Agnes Owens was always a writer, although for the majority of her life she was preoccupied with making a living and domesticity. She married twice, brought up seven children and variously worked as a typist, cleaner and factory worker. It wasn't until she attended an evening creative writing course that she wrote her first novel Gentlemen of the West, published in 1984 by Polygon to widespread critical acclaim; she would go on to write a further five novellas, including A Working Mother and For the Love of Willie, and three short-story collections. She died in 2014.

Kirstin Innes is an award-winning writer, journalist and arts worker living in the west of Scotland. Her first novel Fishnet won The Guardian's Not The Booker Prize in 2015, and is currently in development for television with STV. Her second novel Scabby Queen was published by 4th Estate in 2020, and she is currently developing a play with the National Theatre of Scotland.