Contributors

Richard Poplak is a Johannesburg-based South African author, journalist and filmmaker who focuses on corporate criminality, race and equity issues. A Senior Contributor to the Daily Maverick, he is the author of the graphic novel Kenk, and co-director of the film, Influence.

Miranda Popkey has written for Harper's Magazine, The New York Review of Books and The New Republic. She lives outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Topics of Conversation is her first novel.

Marion Poschmann was born in Essen in 1969. A prize-winning poet and novelist, she has won both of Germany's premier poetry prizes, has been twice shortlisted for the German Book Prize and won the 2013 Wilhelm Raabe Literature Prize.

Padgett Powell is a novelist who has taught writing at the University of Florida for over thirty years. His books include his dazzling first novel Edisto and most recently The Interrogative Mood.

Kate Pullinger was born in Canada, and moved to London in 1982 where she still lives. She is the author of Tiny Lies, a collection of short stories, and the novels When the Monster Dies and Weird Sister. She collaborated with Jane Campion on the novel of the film The Piano, and has written for film, television and radio. She is currently lecturer in Creative Writing and New Media at De Montfort University.

Kirstin Valdez Quade is the author of Night at the Fiestas, winner of the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Prize. The recipient of a "5 Under 35" award from the National Book Foundation, she teaches at Princeton University.

Dorit Rabinyan is bestselling author of the acclaimed Persian Brides and Strand of a Thousand Pearls. She is the recipient of the Itzhak Vinner Prize, The Prime Minister's Prize and the Jewish Quarterly Wingate Award. This book was named one of the ten best books of the year by Ha'aretz newspaper.

JS Rafaeli has worked as a copy writer, a brand consultant, researcher and booking agent. He currently plays in a band.

Paul Rambali is a writer and broadcaster and was a rock journalist for the NME during the punk era and editor of The Face from 1980-1987. The author of two books about France and works including It's All True – In the Cities and Jungles of Brazil, a personal odyssey exploring issues of development and culture in the Third World, he also ghost-wrote Phoolan Devi, the autobiography of India's Bandit Queen, which has been published in 26 countries. He now lives in Paris.

George Raveling was a legend in the worlds of sports, business and culture. Following a standout college basketball career, he became head coach for numerous college basketball teams, as well as assistant-coaching the US Olympic team. Later, Raveling joined Nike at the request of Phil Knight, where he became Director of International Basketball and played an integral role in signing Michael Jordan. He was inducted into the Naismtih Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Zoë Rankin grew up in Scotland. She studied International Relations with Arabic before going on to qualify as a teacher. She spent many years travelling in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and eventually settled in New Zealand. Her father was in mountain rescue in Scotland, and so her passion for the outdoors grew early. She spends a lot of time hiking and cycling with her husband and two young children in New Zealand, and the more remote locations inspired the idea for her debut novel The Vanishing Place.

Nick Pope has two decades of experience working with leading companies such as Nike, Unilever, Gucci, M&S, and Lloyds Bank, helping them develop effective teams at all levels of their organisations. He has published with the British Academy of Management and in several industry trade journals. He currently lives in Sydney, Australia, with regular trips to the US and his native UK.