M

 

The Maecenas Foundation

Maecenas is a Swiss based foundation dedicated to the preservation of artefacts. They own The Gospel of Judas Iscariot which was brought to the attention of the world with the assistance of The National Geographic Society in 2006. A major television documentary was accompanied by a book about The Gospel which has been published throughout the world. (JGH) 

 

Pete May

Pete May is a freelance writer. His books include There¹s A Hippo In My Cistern (Collins), Hammers In The Heart (Mainstream), Ageing Body Confused Mind (New Holland), Rent Boy: How One Man spent 20 Years Falling Off The Property Ladder (Mainstream), Football and its Followers (Watts), West Ham: Irons In The Soul (Mainstream), Sunday Muddy Sunday (Virgin) and The Lad Done Bad (Penguin). As a journalist he has written for the Guardian, Observer, Independent, Time Out, Loaded, Midweek and numerous other publications. He is visiting lecturer in Sports Journalism at the London College of Communication. He lives in London with his wife, two daughters, a dog named Vulcan, two chickens and a large collection of West Ham programmes. (DL)

 

Gabriele Marcotti

Gabriele Marcotti  is the world football correspondent for The Times and UK correspondent for Corriere dello Sport. He is also a columnist for Sports Illustrated and his work appears regularly in La Stampa and the Sunday Herald. He now co-hosts the weekly 606 programme on BBC Radio Five Live as well as being a regular pundit on the same channel.
 
His books include The Italian Job: A Journey to the Heart of Two Great Footballing Cultures, co-written with Gianluca Vialli, which was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award in 2006, and most recently Capello - Portrait of a Winner (Bantam Books) of which Simon Kuper wrote 'Marcotti was born to write this book'. He also co-authored Paolo Di Canio's biography. He lives in London. (DL)

 

Ian McGeechan

Ian McGeechan has been at the highest level of international rugby for over twenty years.  In his autobiography, Lion Man (Simon and Schuster, 2009), McGeechan retraces that career, from his early days as a player , winning more than thirty caps for Scotland and twice touring with the Lions, to his current tour with them during the 2009 tour of South Africa. (DL)

 

James Montague

James Montague is a journalist who has spent the last four years reporting from the Middle East on a variety of subjects.  Most recently, he spent six months in Beirut editing Time Out.  His journalism appears regularly in The Guardian, Observer, New Statesman and 442 and his first book, When Friday Comes (Mainstream, 2009) won him the much coveted Best New Writer at this year’s Sports Book of the Year Awards. (RW)

 

Sally Morris

Sally Morris has worked as a journalist on national newspapers and magazines for 25 years.  She has written regularly for The Daily Mail, The Times,  The Daily Mirror, The Mail on Sunday, The Sunday Express and Sunday Mirror as well as having been a columnist on Good Housekeeping. She has also been a regular contributor to Grazia, Good Housekeeping, Woman, Zest and Weekend magazine.  Sally is best known as a reviewer and features writer on subjects that include health (alternative and conventional), popular psychology, education and celebrities.  She is currently working with Dr Zhai, a leading fertility expert, on a book to be published by Octopus next year. (RW)

 

N

 

Jon Nicholson

Jon Nicholson has been a photographer for over 25 years and is well-known for his behind-the-scenes work with most of the UK’s top sporting personalities and teams, including Lewis Hamilton and the Vodaphone Maclaren Mercedes team.  Jon’s non-sporting work includes commissions from UNICEF AND UNFPA to record often harrowing current affairs topics throughout the world.  He has provided the images for numerous books including Damon Hill:  My Championship Year, Inside Formula One 1996: The Grand Prix Teams and Inside Ferrari: Unique behind the scenes photography of the world’s greatest Formula One Team.  More recently, Jon published his extraordinarily candid memoir of how he and his children coped when his wife was diagnosed with the cancer that would take her life at the age of 35 - Living Without Emma (Ebury, 2009). (DL)

 

O

 

John Osborne

John Osborne graduated from the University of East Anglia in 2004.  He has had poetry published in the Guardian and the Spectator and has appeared on Colin Murray’s Radio 1 Show and with Richard Bacon on Five Life.  His first book, Radio Head (Simon and Schuster, 2009) was selected as Book of the Week by Radio 4 and was serialised in the Daily Mail.  This brilliantly observed memoir of a year listening to virtually every radio station in the UK attracted a raft of stunning reviews.  His second book, The Newsagents’ Window, was published by Simon and Schuster in April 2010.  John is also known for his poetry and is a member of the highly regarded collective Aisle 16. (RW)

 

P

 

Tom Palmer

Tom Palmer is a bestseeling children's fiction writer. He is the author of two series: Football Detective and Football Academy, both published by Puffin UK. Foul Play, the first in the Football Detective series, was shortlisted for the 'Book I Couldn't Put Down' in the Blue Peter Book Awards. The Sunday Times said it 'Scores with the precision of a Ronaldo Free Kick'. Tom's most recent book in the Football Detective series is Offside.  In addition to his fiction, Tom gives regular talks through the UK to schools and bookshops and is fast becoming one of the best known writers in his field.  (DL)

 

Mike Parker

Mike Parker was a stand up comedian before he abandoned the stage to pursue his second great love – travel.  A popular television presenter on travel programmes such as S4C’s coast, he has recently published the highly acclaimed Map Addict (HarperCollins, 2009), a hymn to the fast disappearing paper map.  He is regularly invited by broadcasters to talk about maps and the Ordnance Survey and his recent Radio 4 series was widely praised.  He is currently participating in the British Library's landmark exhibition on maps and writing his second book on the subject of Britain's footpaths and our rights (and wrongs) of way.  (RW)

 

Jonathan Powell

Jonathan Powell is the Mail on Sunday’s Racing Correspondent and the co-author of Paul Nicholl’s autobiography, Lucky Break.  Jonathan was a member of the BBC’s racing team for twenty-three years and has written books on Bob Champion, Frankie Dettori and Desert Orchid.  He co-wrote David Nicholson’s autobiography, The Duke, and lives with his family in Wiltshire.  (JGH)