Dr Jem Poster is the author of two novels, Courting Shadows (Sceptre, 2002) and Rifling Paradise (Sceptre, 2006), as well as a collection of poetry, Brought to Light (Bloodaxe, 2001), and has recently completed volume 3 of the six-volume Oxford University Press Edward Thomas: Prose Writings. He has won prizes in major poetry competitions including first prize in both the Cardiff International Poetry Competition and the Peterloo Poets Open Poetry Competition. He is Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing, Aberystwyth University, has been Chair of the editorial board of New Welsh Review and Programme Advisor to the Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education’s MSt in Creative Writing. He is currently Director of the Institute’s International Summer Programme in Creative Writing and is an Affiliated Lecturer of the Institute. He is Director of Academic Programmes for the Financial Times Oxford Literary Festival and in 2014 spent four months as Writer in Residence at Arizona State University.

Dr Sarah Burton was founder of the Creative Writing MSt at Cambridge University’s Institute of Continuing Education and was its director from 2013 to 2017. Her publications include two critically acclaimed biographies, Impostors: Six Kinds of Liar (Penguin, 2000) and A Double Life: a Biography of Charles and Mary Lamb (Penguin, 2003; shortlisted for the Mind Book of the Year award); a children’s book, The Miracle in Bethlehem: A Storyteller’s Tale (Floris, 2008); a page-to-stage guide, How to Put on a Community Play (Aurora, 2011); and the humorous Complete and Utter History of the World By Samuel Stewart, Aged 9 (Short Books, 2013).

Dr Spyros Syropoulos studied Greek and Latin literature and History at the University of Bristol, England. He completed his M.A. (1993) and Ph.D. (1997) at the same University, on the handling of gender relations as means of informing civic ideology via Tragedy. He worked as teaching assistant at the Department of Classics and Ancient History of the University of Bristol (1993-1996) and then taught for two years as contract lecturer at the Dept. of Philology of the University of Patras (1999-2001). He has been teaching at the Dept. of Mediterranean Studies of the University of the Aegean in Rhodes, Greece, since 2001 (elected as Assistant Professor in 2007; Associate Professor in 2012). Tutor at the Program “Paideia” of the Center for Hellenic Studies PAIDEIA, at the Campus of the University of Connecticut (2003-2013: courses taught in English for students from the U.S.) He participated in three historical documentaries about the Hellenistic period in Rhodes (BBC2), The Colossus of Rhodes (the History Channel) and siege machines in antiquity (the History Channel). Director of the MA course “Theater as a social and political institution in the Mediterranean during Antiquity” (University of the Aegean). Secretary General of the Greek delegation at the European University Association (Brussels).

Dr Eleni Chatzichristou is a professional astrophysicist (MSc, PhD) with more than 25 years of research and academic experience at world leading scientific institutions (Yale University, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Space Telescope Science Institute, University Paris-Diderot, European Southern Observatory, Paris Observatory, Athens National Observatory, Hellenic Open University). Teaching represents an important activity throughout her career. She has taught science courses to students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs, delivered guest lectures, mentored and supervised students on their dissertations. She served for 5 years as Academic Dean of City Unity College, a tertiary education private establishment in Athens, Greece. Her collaboration with students goes well beyond the classroom, her goal has always been to share with them the excitement of discoveries but also the dedication and hard work that it takes to get there. During the last 15 years she has been actively involved in the implementation of innovative technologies and scientific methodologies in science education and training, in the framework of EU-funded projects. In particular she is interested in promoting inquiry based science education in collaboration with Europe-wide educational institutions and science centers, bridging the gap between formal and informal education. She enjoys sharing her excitement about physics and astronomy with motivated audiences of all ages, exploring the wonders of our Universe and the works of nature.