Zoë Skoulding is a poet and literary critic whose work explores translation, sound and ecology. She is Professor of Poetry and Creative Writing at Bangor University and lives on Ynys Môn. She has published six collections of poetry, including A Marginal Sea (Carcanet Press, 2022) and Footnotes to Water (Seren, 2019), which won the Wales Book of the Year Poetry Award in 2020. Her critical publications include the monographs Contemporary Women’s Poetry and Urban Space: Experimental Cities (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) and Poetry & Listening: The Noise of Lyric (Liverpool University Press, 2020). From 2008 to 2014 she served as editor of the international quarterly Poetry Wales.

Catrin Kean is an award‑winning writer whose debut novel Salt (Gwasg Gomer) won Wales Book of the Year in 2021 and was broadcast as BBC Radio 4’s Book at Bedtime in February 2026. Her short story ‘Dŵr’, commissioned by BBC Radio 4’s Short Works, was selected for Best British Short Stories 2025 (Salt Publishing). Her other short stories have appeared in Riptide Anthology, Bridge House Annual Anthologies, Syncopation Journal and The Ghastling. She is currently developing a feature film screenplay, working on her third novel and assembling a collection of short fiction.

Shirish Kulkarni is a journalist, researcher and community organiser whose career in journalism spans more than 30 years. He has worked in major broadcast newsrooms across the UK and at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism. His current work focuses on innovation, inclusion and the arts, with a particular interest in new forms of storytelling, community engagement and approaches to narrative and systems change. He is also the founder of Inclusive Journalism Cymru, a network established to connect, support and campaign for marginalised journalists in Wales.

Julie is a Library Supervisor with a passion for reading, community engagement and lifelong learning. She manages a dedicated team at Maesteg Library, part of Awen Cultural Trust and she won a coveted place on the CILIP 125 list, which is a celebration of 125 outstanding early‑career library and information professionals who are recognised for driving positive change across the sector.

Before beginning her career in libraries, she worked as a trainee journalist, a customer service advisor in the banking sector, and at the Department for Work and Pensions, and spent six months working in Mumbai and served as a Scout Leader. She has been Library Supervisor at Maesteg Library since 2021, serving the community she was born into and still calls home. She and her team recently relocated to new premises within the refurbished Maesteg Town Hall.

Ifor ap Glyn

Ifor ap Glyn is a writer, broadcaster, and former National Poet of Wales (2016–22). He is a Prifardd, having won the Crown at the National Eisteddfod twice — first in 1999 and again at the Denbighshire and District National Eisteddfod in 2013. He has published six poetry collections, the most recent being Rhwng Dau Olau (Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, 2021). He has also published a novel about his upbringing in London, Tra Bo Dau (2016), along with a number of non‑fiction books, including Lleisiau’r Rhyfel Mawr (2008) and Hanes yr Iaith mewn Hanner Can Gair (2018), all published by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch. He has received several awards for his work in television and radio, both as a presenter and producer. Raised in London, he now lives in Caernarfon.

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Gwenno Ffrancon

Gwenno Ffrancon is the Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor for the Welsh Language, its Heritage and its Culture at Swansea University, where she holds strategic responsibility for ensuring that the Welsh language, culture and heritage are embedded across all aspects of university life. She is also Director of the University’s Academi Hywel Teifi and Manager of Tŷ’r Gwrhyd, the Welsh-language centre for the Swansea Valley.

She graduated from Aberystwyth University before beginning her career as an academic and researcher in film history, media and visual culture at Bangor University and later Swansea University. She has published and lectured widely on Welsh film, television and culture, including the volumes Cyfaredd y Cysgodion: Delweddu Cymru a’i Phobl ar Ffilm (University of Wales Press, 2003) and Llais Cenedl: Bywyd a Gwaith John Roberts Williams (Gwasg Gwynedd, 2008).

Originally from Blaenplwyf, Ceredigion, she is now settled in the Swansea Valley, where she is active as a Town Councillor and involved in various local initiatives supporting the Welsh language and the arts.

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Dafydd Lennon

Since 2022, Dafydd Lennon has become a familiar face to children across Wales as a presenter on S4C’s Cyw. Originally from Barry, he moved to London in 2018 to work on the Tate’s artistic project Steve McQueen Year 3, contributing as both a photographer and drama practitioner in over 250 schools. He has also been a teaching assistant for children aged 4–11 and, in 2022, was commissioned by BookTrust Cymru to compose and record bilingual poems and songs for Amser Rhigwm Mawr Cymru. More recently, he has served on judging panels for Bardd Plant Cymru 2023, BAFTA Cymru Presenter of the Year 2023, and BAFTA Young Presenter 2024.

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Sioned Puw Rowlands

Dr Sioned Puw Rowlands is a writer, editor and scholar from Aberystwyth. She has an academic background at Oxford, including a D.Phil in Comparative Literature from St Antony’s College.

She has worked for the Arts Council of Wales and the Mercator Institute at Aberystwyth University, before serving for a period as Director of Wales Literature Exchange. She is also one of the founders of the European network Literature Across Frontiers.

Her publications include volumes such as Byd y Nofelydd (Y Lolfa, 2003), Diogi a Chynhyrfu (Gwasg Gwynedd, 1996), and Hwyaid, Cwningod a Sgwarnogod (University of Wales Press, 2006), and she has co‑edited The Babel Guide to Welsh Literature. She also serves as editor of the literary and critical magazine O’r Pedwar Gwynt.