Contributors

Geoffrey Strachan is a noted translator of French and German literature into English. He is best known for his renderings of the novels of French-Russian writer Andreï Makine. In addition, he has also translated works by Yasmina Réza, Nathacha Appanah, Elie Wiesel and Jérôme Ferrari. Uniquely, he has won both the Scott-Moncrieff Prize (for translation from French) and the Schlegel-Tieck Prize (for translation from German).

Born in Santa Fé, Argentina in 1937, Juan José Saer was the leading Argentinian writer of the post-Borges generation. In 1968, he moved to Paris and taught literature at the university in Rennes, Brittany. In 1988, Juan José Saer was awarded Spain's prestigious Nadal Prize for The Event. His work is translated into all major languages and includes The Witness, Nobody Nothing Never and The Investigation, also published by Serpent's Tail. Saer died in July 2005.

Sandra Koa Wing studied life history research at the University of Sussex, where she became Mass Observation's first Development Officer. She died in May 2007 at the age of 28.

Peter Underwood (16 May 1923 – 26 November 2014) was an English author, broadcaster and parapsychologist. Underwood was born in Letchworth, Hertfordshire. Described as 'an indefatigable ghost hunter', he wrote many books which surveyed alleged hauntings within the United Kingdom – beginning the trend of comprehensive regional 'guides' to (purportedly) haunted places. One of his well-known investigations concerned Borley Rectory, which he also wrote about.

Robert Alexander Farrar Thurman (born August 3, 1941) is an American Buddhist author and academic who has written, edited, and translated several books on Tibetan Buddhism. He is the father of actress Uma Thurman. He was the Je Tsongkhapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, before retiring in June 2019.

He also is the co-founder and president of the Tibet House US New York. He translated the Vimalakirti Sutra from the Tibetan Kanjur into English.

He is the recipient of India's highly prestigious award Padma Shri 2020 for his work in the field of literature and education.

Terry Southern (May 1, 1924 – October 29, 1995) was an American novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and university lecturer, noted for his distinctive satirical style. Part of the Paris postwar literary movement in the 1950s and a companion to Beat writers in Greenwich Village, Southern was also at the center of Swinging London in the 1960s and helped to change the style and substance of American films in the 1970s. He briefly wrote for Saturday Night Live in the 1980s.

Southern's dark and often absurdist style of satire helped to define the sensibilities of several generations of writers, readers, directors and film goers. He is credited by journalist Tom Wolfe as having invented New Journalism with the publication of "Twirling at Ole Miss" in Esquire in February 1963. Southern's reputation was established with the publication of his comic novels Candy and The Magic Christian and through his gift for writing memorable film dialogue as evident in Dr. Strangelove, The Loved One, The Cincinnati Kid, and The Magic Christian. His work on Easy Rider helped create the independent film movement of the 1970s.

Charles Hutchins Hapgood was an American college professor and author who became one of the best known advocates of the pseudoarchaeological claim of a rapid and recent pole shift with catastrophic results.

Dr. Vivek H. Murthy is a physician, researcher, public health expert, and entrepreneur. From 2014 to 2017, he served as the 19th Surgeon General of the United States. His writings have been published in leading medical journals, newspapers and magazines, and his work has been covered extensively in national and international media.