Rodgers, Don

Don Rodgers' prizewinning poetry has been published in a number of magazines and anthologies. He is also the author of published short stories as well as plays, and numbers among his interests natural history and languages. He lives and works in Swansea.

Rumens, Carol

Carol Rumens was born in South London in 1944. She started writing at school and went on to study – and drop out from – Philosophy at London University. Her many publications include more than a dozen individual collections of poetry, contributions to several books of translation, notably from the Russian, a novel, a Collected Poems 1968-2004, and, in 2007, a volume bringing together three lectures on poetry, Self into Song . She has also edited a number of volumes including The Chatto Book of Post-Feminist Poetry.

Her recent prizes include first prize in the BT section of The National Poetry Competition, runner-up in The Cardiff International Poetry Competition (both in 2001) and first prize in the Peterloo Poetry Competition, 2002. She has held residencies in Kent, Belfast, Cork, Stockholm, Hull and currently has a Chair in Creative Writing at the University of Bangor.

Sackett, Frances

Born in Chirk, Clwyd and raised in north Wales, Frances Sackett was educated at the University of Manchester and has recently completed a degree in Literature with emphasis on medieval and Anglo-Saxon studies. Her prize-winning poems have been published in many journals. She is married with two daughters and lives in Marple, Stockport, where she works in a bookshop.

Sampson, Fiona

Fiona Sampson has published ten books, including four collections of poetry, philosophy of language and books on the writing process; she is also the Founder-Editor of Orient Express. She has won many awards, including the Zlaten Prsten of Macedonia, and been translated into more than a dozen languages. She is the Editor of Poetry Review.

Seatter, Robert

After studying English at Oxford University, Robert Seatter worked variously as an EFL teacher in Italy and France, an actor, a journalist, in publishing and broadcasting. He lives in London where he now works for the BBC. His poetry has been widely published, has won numerous awards and has been featured on radio, television and London buses.

Sheers, Owen

Owen Sheers was born in 1974, spent a portion of his childhood abroad, then returned to live on a farm in Abergavenny when he was nine. Educated at Oxford, with an MA in Creative Writing from the UEA writing programme, he has worked in television in London and Wales. He hit the limelight in 2000 when for The Times of January 1st, 2000, David Bailey photographed the foremost practitioners in the arts and sciences together with their choice of the person they expected to carry the discipline forward: Poet Laureate Andrew Motion selected Owen Sheers as the poet to watch. His first book was shortlisted for the Forward Poetry Prize Best First Collection and ACW Book of the Year 2001. Skirrid Hill, his second collection, won a Somerset Maugham Prize in 2006 and was longlisted for Welsh Book of the Year.

To find out more about Owen Sheers visit his website www.owensheers.co.uk

Shiel, Derek

Derek Shiel is a painter, sculptor and writer. Born and bought up in Dublin, he was educated at fettes College and the Edinburgh College of Art. A year's travelling scholarship took him to the USA before he moved to London.

Simmonds, Kathryn

Kathryn Simmonds was born in Hertfordshire in 1972, she has an MA in writing from the University of East Anglia. She currently lives in London. Kathryn received an Eric Gregory Award in 2002 and her pamphlet Snug, was published in 2004. Her poems have appeared widely in magazines and she was winner of the 2006 Poetry London Competition and the 2007 Wigtown Poetry Competition.More recently, Katherine's first poetry collection Sunday at the Skin Laundrette, has been shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award 2008.

Sinnott, Kevin

Born in South Wales in 1947, Kevin Sinnott is a contemporary Welsh artist with a truly international reputation. He trained at The Royal College of Art, and remained in London during the 70s and 80s, building a successful career, exhibiting at several leading galleries, and in major galleries in the U.S.A. and Europe. His paintings are to be found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the British Museum, Royal College of Art, Ashmolean Museum, and private collections worldwide. His painting ‘Running Away with the Hairdresser’ was voted by visitors as their favourite at the National Museum of Wales.

Skidmore, Ian

Ian Skidmore was for many years a neighbour of Kyffin Williams on the island of Anglesey. A former Fleet Street journalist and popular broadcaster on BBC Radio Wales, he now lives in retirement in the east of England.