Koushik Banerjea
From market stall to lecture hall, Koushik Banerjea has been telling tall tales, and some shorter ones too, for as long as he can remember. A South London boy, Category Unknown is his second novel.
Blueblagger
A mysterious character who shuns the spotlight, he edits and publishes his own fanzine, has contributed to a number of books, and has long been a part of the alternative music and publishing scenes in London.
Simon Blumenfeld
Born and bred in the East End of London, Blumenfeld worked in its markets before emerging as a writer of radical fiction with Jew Boy. He later enjoyed a long career as a respected columnist on Stage magazine.
Dan Carrier
A reporter at the Camden New Journal, Dan writes for The Guardian and The Observer, and pens a column under the name Jack The Blaster for the Morning Star. Doctor Zipp’s Amazing Octo-Com is his first book of fiction.
Tali Chilson
Affiliated with Blackfriars Hall, Oxford, Tali’s current research is focused on Anglo-Jewish literature with a particular interest in what she describes as ‘The Anglo-Jewish Literary Revival’.
James Curtis
Wrote all but one of his six novels in the 1930s – two of which were turned into films – and revelled in the use of slang and the vernacular. His ‘lowlife’ novels remain as alive today as when they were first published.
Paul Duncan
The author of Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick (both published by Taschen), Paul is the editor of over one hundred books and currently preparing a biography on Gerald Kersh.
Pete Haynes
Pete has written fiction, non-fiction, plays and screenplays, with Malayan Swing his debut novel. As Manic Esso he is the drummer and one of the founding members of much-loved punk band The Lurkers.
Paolo Hewitt
The author of many books including works on Oasis and David Bowie. His autobiography, The Looked After Kid, about his time in care, is regarded as a classic. He has written the introduction to Doctor Of The Lost by Simon Blumenfeld.
Quick, clean and efficient since 1962, Steward Home is a prolific author of both fiction and non-fiction, as well as a pamphleteer, prankster and respected visual artist.
Alan Hudson
Former footballer with Chelsea, Stoke and Arsenal, Alan was capped by England and is regarded as one of the most gifted players of his generation.
Gerald Kersh
Kersh’s life reads like an outrageous novel. He was a wrestler and soldier, roamed the Soho nightlife of the Thirties and Forties, slept rough, worked as a war reporter, and even managed a cinema. He was also a brilliant writer.
John King
The author of nine novels – The Football Factory, Headhunters, England Away, Human Punk, White Trash, The Prison House, Skinheads, The Liberal Politics Of Adolf Hitler and Slaughterhouse Prayer.
Martin Knight
His non-fiction has seen him work with the likes of footballers Peter Osgood, George Best and Charlie Cooke, as well as producing the murder investigation Justice For Joan and the London memoir Battersea Girl.
Starting off as a teenage wide boy on the streets of his native Islington, Arthur went on to become a high-profile author of both fiction and non-fiction as an adult. Several of his novels were adapted for the screen.
Peter Mason
A freelance journalist and author, Peter has written a number of books, among them the Brown Dog Affair, which chronicles the anti-vivisection protests that led to the Brown Dog Riots of 1907.
Alan Sillitoe
Since making his mark with the classic Saturday Night And Sunday Morning in 1958, Alan remained a prolific writer throughout his life, with 2004’s A Man Of His Time up there with his greatest work.
Iain Sinclair
Iain Sinclair’s London writing remains an inspiration. His London Classics introduction for Wide Boys Never Work by Robert Westerby is backed up by the hidden essay ‘See You At Mass, Johnny’ – another London nugget.
John Sommerfield
Fought in an International Brigade machine-gun unit during the Spanish Civil War and served in the RAF during the Second World War. May Day is his greatest novel.
DJ Taylor
Author of Orwell: The Life and Bright Young People: The Rise And Fall Of A Generation 1918-1940. He wrote the introduction to the London Classics edition of Alan Sillitoe‘s A Start In Life.
Cathi Unsworth
Cathi is a former music journalist who turned to a life of crime fiction. She has authored six pop-cultural novels and collaborated with Jordan on the memoir Defying Gravity.
Admires Gogol’s Dead Souls and Joy Division (he saw them once, in the winter); Weather Report (1974-6) in summer. Patient wife, two cats. Flirts with RSPCA memberships on and off.
As well a prolific author, Irvine is an acid-house DJ, director and writer for film and television, and someone who has travelled extensively for work and for pleasure.
Robert Westerby
From the mean streets of his early London fiction to the Los Angeles high life, Robert Westerby was a man whose writing skills mean he can be remembered as both a cult novelist and a respected Hollywood screenwriter.
Paul Willetts
The author of Fear And Loathing In Fitzrovia, the acclaimed biography of Julian Maclaren-Ross, his other books includes King Con and Members Only: The Life And Times Of Paul Raymond.
Ken Worpole
Ken is the author of many works on architecture, landscape and social history. His book Dockers And Detectives was one of the first to reawaken interest in the work of Jewish writers from London’s East End.