Raficq Abdulla was awarded an MBE in 1999 for his ecumenical work among Muslims, Jews and Christians. He has written and presented numerous radio programmes about Islam for the BBC, including a series of talks on the Prophet Muhammad and the Four Caliphs, and programmes on Jalaluddin Rumi. .....

Trained at the Slade School of Fine Art and the Courtauld Institute of Art, Philippa Abrahams is an artist, conservator, museum education consultant and teacher, and an expert on historic art materials and painting and drawing techniques. .....

André Aciman teaches Comparative Literature at the City University Graduate Center. He is the author of False Papers and the memoir Out of Egypt.

J. R. Ackerley (1896-1967) was for many years the literary editor of the BBC magazine The Listener. His works include three memoirs, Hindoo Holiday, My Dog Tulip, and My Father and Myself, and a novel, We Think the World of You (all available as New York Review Books).

London has been the main character in the work of Peter Ackroyd ever since his first novel, The Great Fire of London. .....

Richard Aczel is the author of National Character and European Identity in Hungarian Literature, 1772-1848.

Henry Adams (1838–1918) was an American historian, journalist, and novelist. In 1907 he published his Pulitzer Prize–winning autobiography, The Education of Henry Adams, considered by many to be the most important nonfiction work of the twentieth century. .....

Sarah Adams studied Art and Design at Hull College of Art. After graduating she completed a post-graduate in illustration at Central St Martins School of Art in London. .....

Joan Aiken, the daughter of the American poet and writer Conrad Aiken and Jessie Macdonald Aiken (also an author), was an immensely popular and prolific author who wrote almost a hundred novels for adults and children. .....

Jaakko Alatalo was born in the Midwestern part of Finland. He studied photography at Lahti Institute of design and he has been working as a free lance photographer and author for over thirty years. .....

Céleste Albaret (1892-1984) was born into a peasant family in the mountainous region of Lozère, France. In 1913, she married Odilon Albaret, a Parisian chauffeur, whose clients included Marcel Proust. .....

Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) was born into a noble family in Florence. He fought as a cavalryman, served in a variety of civic and diplomatic positions, and in 1300 attained a preeminent place in the administration of his native city. .....

Jonathan Allen has created many wonderful picture books for children. His international success is based on his observant wit, appealing art and his child-like sense of fun. .....

Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights. AI has a varied network of members and supporters around the world. .....

Andrea Anastasio is a cosmopolitan transcultural soul and artist; part designer, part philosopher, part writer. Born in Rome, he traveled to India, when he was 18 years old, where he discovered another world – a non Euro-centric world. .....

Rachel Anderson was born in 1943. She has worked in radio and journalism. Rachel has written four books for adults and 55 for young readers. .....

Lise Apatoff, originally from Chicago, has been living on a farm in the Tuscan countryside north of Florence since 1978. She shares her intimate understanding of Italy as a teacher, travel coordinator and museum lecturer by making the “the living classroom of the Renaissance” come alive for visitors of all of ages by imparting a passion for art, history, and the countless delightful nuances of the Italian culture.

Roy Apps is the author of 50 children's books. His novel The Secret Summer of Daniel Lyons won the Writers' Guild Children's Book Award and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Awards. .....

Anthony Archer-Wills has designed and built over 2,000 water features – from small ponds in urban gardens to vast lakes on country estates. .....

Edward Ardizzone was the eldest of five children. In 1905 his family moved to Ipswich, where he learnt to know and love the little coastal steamers that he was to draw so often in the Little Tim books. .....

Judy Armstrong is a New Zealander, with bases in North Yorkshire and the French Alps. While she loves her home in a small village in the North York Moors national park, she still finds time to travel by foot, kayak, horse, bike and skis throughout Europe, Africa, South and Central America, and Asia. .....

Samhita Arni was Tara's youngest author – they published her version of the great epic Mahabharatha in 1996, when she was 12. .....

Mary Arrigan studied at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, University College, Dublin and Florence University. .....

John Ashbery is the author of twenty books of poetry, including Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror (1975), which received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the National Book Award; and Some Trees (1956), which was selected by W. .....

Bernard Ashley is a former head teacher who is now writing full-time. He lives in South London where he was born. Bernard's impressive list of titles reflects 35 years of writing realistic fiction – from picture books right up to teenage novels. .....

Saint Francis of Assisi (1181/2–1226) was born Francesco Bernadone, the son of a rich merchant. While a young prisoner-of-war in Perugia he started to experience visions of Christ and in 1210 founded an order of friars known as the Franciscans, who took a vow of poverty. .....

Helena Attlee is an author and journalist who has made the garden and its history her special subject. Her books include The Gardens of Portugal Italian Gardens: A Cultural History and Gardens of Wales (all publishd by Frances Lincoln). .....

W. H. Auden (1907–1973) was born in North Yorkshire, England, the son of a doctor. He studied at Oxford and published his first book, Poems, in 1930, immediately establishing himself as one of the outstanding voices of his generation. .....

Jean M. Auel is the international best-selling author of the Earth's Children series, which includes The Clan of the Cave Bear and The Mammoth Hunters.

Erich Auerbach (1892–1957) was born in Berlin, educated at the Universities of Heidelberg and Greifswald, and served in the German army during World War I. .....

Jane Austen (1775 - 1817) was a major English novelist, whose brilliantly witty, elegantly structured satirical fiction marks the transition in English literature from 18th century neo-classicism to 19th century romanticism. .....

Paul Auster is the author of ten novels, most recently The Book of Illusions. He lives with his wife and daughter in Brooklyn, NY.

Esther Averill (1902-1992) began her career as a storyteller drawing cartoons for her local newspaper. After graduating from Vassar College in 1923, she moved first to New York City and then to Paris, where she founded her own publishing company. .....