Sita Brahmachari is an author of books, short stories, and theatre focusing on diverse and difficult experiences, and building understanding and community. Two of her books, Red Leaves and Tender Earth, are endorsed by Amnesty International UK for their thoughtful and heartfelt portrayal of the lives of refugees. Her novel Artichoke Hearts won the 2011 Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize. She is the writer in residence at the Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants where she leads art and writing classes for refugees.

Darren Chetty is a teacher and the founder of UK Hip Hop Education, an initiative to utilise children’s immersion in hip hop music and culture for education and personal development. He writes about racism in children’s literature, particularly the lack of black characters in children’s books, and has contributed to the anthology The Good Immigrant. His article, “The Elephant in the Room: Picture Books, Philosophy for Children, and Racism” won the 2014 Award for Excellence in Philosophy for Children. 

Pam Dix is a former librarian and a current lecturer in children’s literature at London Metropolitan University. She founded the Akili Charitable Trust in 2006, which works to develop libraries in rural Kenya. Since 2014 she has been the chair of IBBY, the International Board on Books for Young People. She is an advocate for promoting and sharing diverse books widely in order to help them reach the most young readers possible, and has been involved with the Silent Book Project to help books reach refugee children.

Candy Gourlay is the author of Tall Story and Shine, stories about exile, ostracisation, understanding, and love. Both books won the Crystal Kite Award, and Tall Story won the 2012 Philippines National Children’s Book Award. Her experience as a journalist for the opposition magazine Mr. & Ms. Special Edition in the Philippines during the People Power Revolution informs her continuing work in speaking up for the disadvantaged and oppressed.

Professor Matthew Grenby is Director of Newcastle University's Humanities Research Institute, Professor of 18th Century Studies, and a member of the Children's Literature Unit. His research interests include children's literature and culture in the 18th and 19th centuries, and children, antiquarianism and ‘heritage’, from the 17th century to the present. Professor Grenby is also a Seven Stories Trustee.

Jake Hope is an experienced reading development and children’s book consultant. He has been on the panels of numerous book awards, notably as the vice chair of the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Awards panels. He was part of the 2014 Diverse Voices panel selecting 50 of the best children’s books celebrating cultural diversity.

Catherine Johnson is a writer of historical fiction focusing on stories featuring BAME characters. She has written for The History Girls blog and her novel Sawbones won the 2014 Young Quills Award and was nominated for the 2015 Carnegie Award. Her work centres on people in history whose stories have not been widely told.

Sarah Lawrance is the Collection and Exhibitions Director at Seven Stories, where she has played a key role in developing the Centre's unique collection of manuscripts, artwork, archives and books since 2003 and is now part of the organisation's senior management team. She is currently leading Seven Stories’ HLF-funded Collecting Cultures project, which aims to enrich and diversify the museum’s collection. Sarah has worked in the museum and heritage sector since 1990 and is an Associate of the Museums Association. She also has a Postgraduate Certificate in Children's Literature from Roehampton University and is the author of 'Drawn from the Archive - Hidden Histories of Illustration', published by Seven Stories (Oct 2015) in association with Walker Books. 

Patrice Lawrence is the author of Orangeboy and Indigo Donut, stories about children of BAME heritage and the realities and difficulties of their lives. Orangeboy was the winner of the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2017 Category for Older Fiction as well as being shortlisted for the 2017 Bookseller YA Book Prize and the 2016 Costa Children’s Book Award.

S.I. Martin is a journalist, author and researcher, specialising in the field of Black British history. He has written two books for children, Jupiter Williams (2007) and Jupiter Amidships (2009) and has worked on exhibitions, archival and outreach projects for several UK museums and archives.

Beverley Naidoo grew up in South Africa, joining the resistance to apartheid as a student. After detention without trial, she came into exile in Britain.  Journey to Jo’burg and Censoring Reality were originally banned in SA. Her doctoral research, published as Through Whose Eyes? Exploring racism: reader, text and context, investigated white British teenagers’ responses to literature that challenges racism. Her novel The Other Side of Truth won the Carnegie Award (2000) and she has been nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award and the Hans Christian Andersen Award.  She holds honorary doctorates for her work, now archived at Seven Stories, and is online at www.beverleynaidoo.com.

Dr Lucy Pearson is Lecturer in Children's Literature at Newcastle University. Lucy works in the field of children's literature, with a special interest in children's publishing and the development of children's literature since the mid twentieth century. Her work is focused around the cultural contexts for reading and the ways in which these shape literature.

Yu Rong is an award-winning Chinese illustrator. She grew up and trained firstly as a teacher and then in fine art in China. In 1997 she moved to the UK to study at the Royal College of Art under Quentin Blake in the communication, art and design school. She is especially known for her use of traditional papercutting techniques. Her books include collaborations with Chinese authors such as Summer (2015) and Smoke (2014) with Cao Wenxuan, as well as British writers such as Snowflake in my Pocket (2016) with Rachel Bright.

SF Said was born in Lebanon and moved to England at age 2. The challenges he faced as Arabic Muslim immigrant influence his writing, and learning to understand and embrace diversity is a theme in his work. His children's novels are Varjak Paw (2003), The Outlaw Varjak Paw (2007) and Phoenix (2013). He has also acted as a judge for the CILIP Amnesty Honour.

Karen Sands-O'Connor is professor of English literature at the State University of New York, Buffalo, and a former Leverhulme Professor at Newcastle University where she worked with Seven Stories staff on issues of diversity.  Her recent book, Children's Publishing and Black Britain, 1965-2015 and her weekly blog, The Race to Read, examine how diversity, children's books, and history and culture intersect.

Alex Wheatle’s life in Brixton serves as inspiration for his writing. He won the London Arts Board New Writers Award for his 1999 novel Brixton Rock, which was later adapted for the stage. He illuminates the realities of British urban black communities in his Crongton books, Crongton Knights, winner of the 50^th Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, and Straight Outta Crongton. In 2008 he was awarded an MBE for services to literature.

Verna Wilkins is the founder of Tamarind Books and Firetree Books, and the author of the Black Star series of biographies. Her publishing mission is to publish books representing BAME children and children with disabilities so that all children can see themselves represented in their literature.  She was nominated for the London Metro’s Black Hero list, and in 2008, Tamarind Books won the Decibel Cultural Diversity Award in the British Book Awards. In 2015, Verna was made an honorary Doctor of Letters by Newman University Birmingham, for being a champion of children's literature.