The writers

Howard Cunnell has published two novels: Marine Boy (2008) and The Sea on Fire (2012). He is the contributing editor of On the Road: The Original Scroll (2007), the uncut version of Jack Kerouac’s American classic. Fathers & Sons: A Memoir will be published by Picador in February 2017 and will be a Radio 4 Book of the Week.

Find out more about Howard at howardcunnell.com

Zoe Howe‘s Shine on Marquee Moon is a rock ’n’ roll love story with a satirical twist, a bohemian heroine and a fair bit of guy-liner. It was shortlisted for the 2016 Virginia Prize for Fiction.

Find out more about Zoe at zoehowe.com and on Twitter @zoehowe

Robyn Travis‘s first book, Prisoner to the Streets, tells of his journey from London’s gangland to becoming a successful writer. His new novel Mama Can’t Raise No Man, published in October 2016, is an insightful exploration of gender roles and modern definitions of masculinity. Robyn is currently working on his next novel as well as a screenplay and web series. He is a passionate advocate for young people.

Find out more about Robyn on Twitter @OfficialRTravis

Zelda Rhiando lives in Brixton and is one of the organisers of the Brixton BookJam. She is the author of three books: Caposcripti, A Fistful of Cherries and Good Morning Mr Magpie. She is a contributor to the Poetry Library and an occasional journalist. When not writing she can be found child-wrangling and making digital products.

Find out more about Zelda at badzelda.com and on Twitter @badzelda
Tom Tomaszewski grew up in south London and works as a psychotherapist specialising in addiction. His father came from a family of dissenting Polish patriots. His aunt died in Auschwitz and his grandfather was regularly prosecuted for writing an anti-Prussian column ‘Polish Fire’. The Eleventh Letter is a story about desire, ghosts and trying to change the past.

Find out more about Tom at tomtomaszewski.com and on Twitter @tbt_tom

Rabiah Hussain is a playwright and poet. She has performed poetry at Lost Theatre, Space Arts Centre and Rich Mix. She was part of Battersea Arts Centre’s London Stories: Made By Migrants 2016 and is part of Tamasha Theatre’s playwright collective 2016–17. She was co-writer in Deckchair Collective’s Steam Punk at Open Ealing in 2012, and her poem Child of the Colony was published in The Asian Writer’s collection of contemporary Asian writing.

Find out more about Rabiah at rabiahhussain.com and on Twitter @HussnR

After an early career at the BBC World Service, Lydia Syson wrote a PhD on Timbuktu and published a biography of Britain’s first sex therapist – Doctor of Love: Dr James Graham and His Celestial Bed. Her novels bring radical history to life. A World Between Us tells the story of the Spanish Civil War; WW2 Polish pilots and pacifism feature in That Burning Summer; and France’s forgotten revolution, the 1871 Paris Commune, is the subject of Liberty’s Fire.

Find out more about Lydia at lydiasyson.com and on Twitter @lydiasyson

Anna Maconochie has had stories published in the Erotic Review, The Dublin Review and The Bitter Oleander. Her first short story collection Only The Visible Can Vanish was published in September 2016. She has also had a short story published in Desire: 100 of Literature’s Sexiest Stories and appeared on a panel with Mariella Frostrup, Primula Bond and Anna Chancellor at the Cheltenham Literary Festival, discussing the current role and relevance of erotic literature.

Find out more about Anna on Twitter @annamaconochie

Jon Newman is a writer and archivist and works in London. His book River Effra: South London’s Secret Spine is the first comprehensive account of Brixton’s hidden river, beginning with its underlying geology and prehistory. The machinations of medieval landowners seeking to divert its course are uncovered, along with some fascinating legends concerning King Canute, Queen Elizabeth and other historical figures.

Find out more at signalbooks.co.uk

Asher Senator grew up in Clapham. He started deejaying at the age of 14 at house parties, and then on the Buchanan Sound System, with his sparring partner Smiley Culture. Asher’s book Smiley and Me is a hard-hitting, true life account of how they set out to write and perform conscious lyrics at the birth of the British MC scene in the 1970s and 80s. It recaptures the feel of a musical genre which came from the streets and led to the pair performing on Top of the Pops and touring the world.

Author of 200 Douggie John spent his early childhood in foster homes and was expelled from secondary school without any qualifications. He left home at 16 and moved into the back of a Ford Anglia van, his worldly possessions: a shopping bag full of tatty boxing magazines and a drum kit. Douggie lives in Brixton. He is the head coach of an amateur boxing club and fronts the band The Phony King of England.

Find out more at facebook.com/douggiejohnauthor

Born, bred, and based in Brixton, Cynthia Roomes is an artist, writer, poet and believer in social justice. Her visual and literary work reflects on life, the human condition, and triumph over adversity from a black woman’s perspective. For over 30 years, Cynthia has worked to bring high value investment to local communities.

Find out more about Cynthia at cynthia-roomes.com and on Twitter @cynthiaroomes