Lucia Mthiyane, TV personality, singer and kitchen queen, has been in the food industry for more than 10 years. She prepares feasts with flair; her cooking classes are very popular, and she often judges cooking competitions. Countrywide she has done themed events with cooking demonstrations and music, food and wine pairing.  

Anzil Kulsen obtained a BHons degree before joining the ATKV as project manager, focusing on establishing reading clubs and encouraging communities to start writing in the Northern Cape. She also presents courses in creative writing and does play and narrative therapy. Anzil and her husband, Heine, have two children. They live in Upington.

Over the past 30 years, journalist Neels Jackson has become known for informed reporting on matters of church and faith. He worked as church reporter and editor of the Dutch Reformed Church newspaper Kerkbode, and has excellent relations with theologians and church leaders. He is married, lives in Pretoria and has two grown daughters.

Sally Partridge was named one of the Mail & Guardian’s 200 notable Young South Africans of 2011. She has received the MER Prize for Youth Literature for four of her novels and won a SALA Award for her novel, Mine, in 2019.  She has also been honoured by IBBY International for her young adult fiction. She lives in Cape Town. 

Marion Erskine was born in Randfontein. He is the creator of the popular Facebook group “Lekkerleesboekrak”, and known for his radio dramas on RSG. Marion was awarded an ATKV-Woordveertjie for his young-adult novel Vlerke vir almal. He lives in Dubai.

Frans Cronje is the CEO of the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR). He has presented scenarios concerning South Africa’s long-term economic and political prospects to more than a hundred corporations, government departments, foreign governments and political parties. He holds a PhD in scenario planning.

François Bloemhof is a well-established author who has published more than forty titles in various genres and has won numerous prizes along the way. François freelances as a language practitioner and lives in Durbanville.  

Deon Meyer is an internationally acclaimed writer living in Stellenbosch. His publications include twelve novels, inter alia 13 Uur, 2008, Spoor, 2010, 7 Dae, 2011, Kobra, 2013, Ikarus, 2015, Koors, 2016, and  Prooi, 2018. Orion, Proteus and Infanta all received the ATKV Prize for Fiction and Prooi was awarded the ATKV Prize for Suspense Fiction.