Contributors

Frederick Perls originated and developed Gestalt Therapy at Esalen Institute, California. Paul Goodman was a lay psychotherapist at the New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy.

Sarah Perry is the author of Essex Girls, Melmoth, The Essex Serpent and After Me Comes the Flood. She has been the UNESCO City of Literature writer-in-residence in Prague and a Gladstone's Library writer-in-residence. Her work has been translated into twenty two languages. She lives in Norwich

Fernando Pessoa, one of the founders of modernism, was born in Lisbon in 1888. He grew up in Durban, South Africa, where his stepfather was Portuguese consul. He returned to Lisbon in 1905 and worked as a clerk in an import-export company until his death in 1935. Most of Pessoa's writing was not published during his lifetime; The Book of Disquiet first came out in Portugal in 1982. Since its first publication, it has been hailed as a classic.

Christopher Magnus Howard "Kit" Pedler (11 June 1927 – 27 May 1981) was a British medical scientist, parapsychologist and science fiction author. Head of the electron microscopy department at the Institute of Ophthalmology, University of London, Pedler was a contributor to BBC's flagship science programme, Tomorrow's World, and unofficial scientific adviser to Doctor Who.

John Peet is Europe Editor at The Economist, where he has previously been Business Affairs Editor, Brussels Correspondent and Finance Correspondent. Before joining The Economist he was a civil servant, working for the Treasury and the Foreign Office.

Anne Peile is a Londoner. To earn a living she has folded jerseys for Joseph Ettedgui, baked cakes, written emails for the BBC, taught literacy, served in the world's most famous bookshop and run a seaside museum. Currently she works in Whitehall. Repeat It Today with Tears, her debut novel, was longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2011. Her second novel, Seeing the World, is set against the backdrop of the Kennedy era.

George Pelecanos was born in Washington, DC in 1957. He has worked as producer, writer and story editor for the acclaimed and award-winning US crime series, The Wirehis writing for the show earned him an Emmy nomination. He is the author of fifteen crime novels set in and around Washington, DC. The Big Blowdown was the recipient of the International Crime Novel of the Year award in both Germany and Japan; King Suckerman was shortlisted for the Gold Dagger Award in the UK. His short fiction has appeared in Esquire and the collections Unusual Suspects and Best American Mystery Stories of 1997. He is an award-winning journalist and pop-culture essayist who has written for the Washington Post. Pelecanos has also been involved in the production of several feature films. Most recently he has written an adaptation of King Suckerman for Dimension Films, and was co-writer on Paid in Full. Pelecanos lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his wife and three children.

Madeleine Pelling is an award-winning cultural historian, author and broadcaster, and has held research fellowships at the universities of Yale, Edinburgh and Manchester. She is the co-host of History Hit's popular After Dark podcast and is a regular contributor for TV and radio, including for Channel 4, Sky Arts, Warner Bros and the BBC. Her words appear in the Guardian, Independent, BBC History Magazine and History Today, amongst others. She is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Ian Pattison is a noted TV writer whose credits include Athletico Partick, Naked Video and writing all ten series of Rab C. Nesbitt. He has written three novels, including Looking at the Stars. His play, I, Tommy, toured throughout 2012. He was born and lives in Glasgow.

Robert Peckham is a cultural historian and founder of Open Cube, an organisation that promotes the integration of the arts, science, and technology for health. He was previously Professor of History and MB Lee Endowed Professor in the Humanities and Medicine at the University of Hong Kong. He has held fellowships at Cambridge, Oxford, LSE, and King's College London, and been a visiting scholar at NYU. A fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he has published in Foreign Affairs, New Statesman, Prospect, the Guardian, the Independent and the Times Literary Supplement. He lives in New York.

David Peace grew up in Yorkshire in the '70's and vividly remembers listening to the hoax tape of the Yorkshire Ripper on his way home from school. He was selected as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists 2003. He lives in Japan.

Chris Pearson is Professor of Environmental History at the University of Liverpool. A specialist in human-animal history, he is the author of Dogopolis and a contributor to Dog Hearted: Essays on Our Fierce and Familiar Companions. He is currently researching the lives of Indian street dogs in a project funded by the Wellcome Trust. He lives in Chester with his family and his Bedlington-Whippet, Cassie.