5 Speakers, 15 Minutes Each - September 2026

Sir Ben Okri OBE is a poet, novelist, and playwright. His novel, The Famished Road, won the Booker Prize in 1991. His works have been translated into 26 languages. He has been a Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Ben Okri's books have won numerous international prizes. The recipient of many honorary doctorates, he is a vice-president of the English Centre of International PEN and was presented the Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum for his outstanding contribution to the Arts and cross-cultural understanding. His book Astonishing the Gods was chosen by the BBC as one of the most influential novels written over the last 300 years. His latest book, Tiger Work: Stories, Essays and Poems About Climate Change, evokes the magic of nature and the urgency of protecting the environment.

Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Children's Laureate 2024–2026, is a multi award-winning children’s book author and screenwriter. Millions, his debut children's novel, won the prestigious CILIP Carnegie Medal. His books have been shortlisted for a multitude of prizes, including the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the Whitbread Children’s Fiction Award, The Roald Dahl Funny Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award. His latest book, A British Childhood, tell the story of 21st century childhood in Britain, through real lives in homes, libraries, schools and streets across the country.

Lani Watson is is a philosopher and an honorary fellow at the University of Edinburgh. Previously, she was a research fellow at the University of Oxford, a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, a visiting fellow at the University of Connecticut and a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Human Flourishing at the University of Oklahoma. Her new book, Q: The Hidden Power of Questions in a World that Wants Answers, explores the practice of questioning in everyday life, and what we stand to gain from developing a questioning mindset.

Louise Doughty's novels include Platform Seven, recently filmed for ITV; Black Water, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; the bestseller Apple Tree Yard, which was adapted for BBC One; and Whatever You Love, nominated for the Costa Novel Award and the Women's Prize for Fiction. She has been nominated for many other prizes including the Sunday Times Short Story Prize and the CWA Silver Dagger, along with creating and writing the hit BBC drama Crossfire. Her latest book, and first memoir, is On This Spot Fell One Tear of Love.

Emma-Lee Moss on is a writer and musician. As a writer, Emma-Lee has contributed to the Guardian, Vice, i-D, British GQ, Wired, the Good Journal and more. As a singer-songwriter performing under the name Emmy the Great, she released four studio albums, as well as several collaborations and soundtracks. She writes original songs for film, theatre, television, radio and community projects, and is interested in the way that songs interact with our everyday lives. Her first book, My Cantopop Nights: A Memoir in Songs, is a story of pop music, identity crisis and Hong Kong.