Contributors

Mark Palmer has written for national newspapers and magazines for more than thirty years. He was formerly with theDaily Telegraph and is now with the Daily Mail. He has written the authorised history of Clarks shoes.

Ned Palmer first experienced great cheese at Borough Market, helping to sell Trethowan's Gorwydd Caerphilly (still one of his all-time favourite cheeses). He then learnt his craft at Neal's Yard Dairy, who dispatched him to farms and dairies across Britain and Ireland. It was during one such visit, to Mary Holbrook's farm in Somerset, that he came up with the idea for a Cheesemonger's History, realising that her fresh Sleightlett cheese was just what a Neolithic farmer would make. There followed many more trips – from Hawes Yorkshire Wensleydale to Milleens at the tip of County Cork – as well as long hours in the British Library, immersed in Celtic cheese folklore, monastic account books and unearthing tales of cheese piracy, cheese magic and Queen Victoria's giant birthday Cheddar.

Ned lives in London with his wife, the novelist Imogen Robertson, many, many books about cheese, and a piano. He set up the Cheese Tasting Company in 2014, to spread the gospel.

Tezer Özlü was born in 1943 in Turkey and lived in Paris, Ankara, Istanbul, Berlin and Zurich where she died in 1986. Cold Nights of Childhood is her first novel to be translated into English.

Melissa Panarello was born in Sicily in 1985 and now lives in Rome. Her teenage diaries formed the basis of One Hundred Strokes of the Brush Before Bed, the book that scandalised Europe.

Eric Orton is a world-renowned running coach and author of The Cool Impossible. He works with winners, beginners and all in between, and has coached almost every race distance from 800 metres to 200 miles. Eric is based in the outdoor adventure paradise of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Ted Orland is a photographer, teacher and writer. Early in his career he served as Assistant to Ansel Adams, and later taught university level photography classes and workshops on artistic development. His art is represented by The Ansel Adams Gallery, and a selection of his early writings and photographs appear in his monograph, Scenes of Wonder & Curiosity.

Julianne Pachico was born in 1985 in Cambridge, England and grew up in Cali, Colombia. Her short stories have been published in New Yorker, Granta and the White Review, and she teaches creative writing at UEA.

Nicolas Padamsee grew up in Essex. He holds an MA and PhD in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia, and is one of the Observer's best new novelists for 2024. He is the editor of Arts Against Extremism. He splits his time between Norwich and Upton Park, London.

Dr Vjosa Osmani Sadriu is the sixth President of the Republic of Kosovo. In the 2021 elections, she became the most voted for politician in the history of elections in Kosovo. Prior to that, she was a five-time Member of Parliament and she served as the first woman Speaker of Parliament. With a steadfast commitment to strengthening democracy and the rule of law, her presidency is marked by her proactive approach in enhancing Kosovo's international standing. During her tenure as President, she's committed to advancing human rights and gender equality, with a particular focus in advancing the role of women in peace and security processes. As an advocate for sustainable development, she actively promotes impactful green energy solutions and climate action measures.

Amin Osman is a writer, director and composer

Richard O'Connor is the author of five books, Undoing Depression, Active Treatment of Depression, Undoing Perpetual Stress, Happy At Last, and Rewire. For fourteen years he was executive director of the Northwest Center for Family Service and Mental Health, overseeing the treatment of almost a thousand patients per year. He is a practicing psychotherapist, with offices in Canaan, Connecticut, and New York City, and he lives with his family in Lakeville, Connecticut.

James J. O'Donnell, author of Augustine:Sinner and Saint, The Ruin of the Roman Empire, and the forthcoming Pagans, is an academic turned administrator who uses his wide-ranging world travels to inform and inspire his writing. Educated at Princeton and Yale, long on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, he is now Provost of Georgetown University.