Julie Bertagna
'Julie Bertagna is one of our most acclaimed writers for young people. She worked for a time as a secondary school English teacher and as a freelance feature writer before becoming a full-time writer. She published her first novel, The Spark Gap (Mammoth) in 1996 and her second novel, Soundtrack (Mammoth) won a Scottish Arts Council Children's Book Award in 2000. She has written several stories for younger readers including Dolphin Boy and The Ice Cream Machine (both Mammoth). Her latest novels are Exodus (Young Picador), a thrilling fantasy set in a Glasgow of the future and The Opposite of Chocolate (Young Picador).

Matthew Fitt
A Dundonian by birth, Matthew Fitt is a poet, novelist, teacher, former Brownsbank Fellow, enthusiastic champion of the Scots language and author of the ground-breaking Scots science-fiction novel, But N Ben A-Go-Go (Luath Press). He is currently language development officer for the innovative Itchy Coo project which has recently published four books (Black and White Publishing) designed to meet the need in schools for imaginative, attractively illustrated material in Scots. Matthew's other titles include The Grammar Broonie which he wrote with Susan Rennie (Edinburgh University Press).

Keith Gray
Keith Gray was born and brought up in Grimsby and knew from an early age that he wanted to be a writer. His first book, Creepers was published in 1996 when he was only 24. The novel was highly acclaimed and shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Award. In the summer of 2000, Keith moved to Edinburgh and became a full-time writer. His book Warehouse (Red Fox) won The Angus Book Award 2003 which is voted for by teenagers and he was on the shortlist again this year with Malarkey (Red Fox). His first book for the specialist educational publishers Barrington Stoke, Before Night Falls was published in 2003 and keep an eye out later in 2004 for The Mourn.