Hadi Abdullah is Syrian reporter and activist. Born in Homs in 1988 he rose to prominence in Syria in 2011 and 2012 when he covered the siege of Homs at the hands of the Syrian regime. In 2016 he won the prestigious Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Prize in the citizen journalist category. He currently resides in Homs in Syria and has worked for various Syrian opposition networks, including Syria TV. He is active on Instagram and Telegram.

Alessandro Columbu is Senior Lecturer in Arabic at the University of Westminster. Originally from Sardinia, Alessandro learned Arabic in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, and earned his PhD in Arabic literature from the University of Edinburgh. His latest publication is Zakariyya Tamir and the politics of the Syrian short story ? Modernity, gender and authoritarianism published by IB Tauris. He won the 2023 edition of the Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding for his translation of Zakariyya Tamir's Sour Grapes, published by Syracuse University Press.