Imtiaz Dharker is a Pakistani-British poet, artist, and video film-maker. She won the Queen's Gold Medal for her poetry and was appointed Chancellor of Newcastle University from January 2020.

Dame Carol Ann Duffy is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is a professor of contemporary poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Poet Laureate in May 2009, the first female and the first Scottish Poet Laureate in the role’s 400-year history, serving in this position until her term ended in 2019.

Patricia Smith is an American poet, spoken-word performer, playwright, author, writing teacher, and former journalist. She won the 2025 National Book Award for Poetry for her collection The Intentions of Thunder: New and Selected Poems; in 2026, the collection was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

Fleur Adcock CNZM OBE was a New Zealand poet, editor and translator. Born in Papakura, New Zealand, and raised partly in England, Adcock spent most of her adult life in the United Kingdom, where she became a prominent figure in contemporary poetry.

Sean O'Brien FRSL is a British poet, critic and playwright. Prizes he has won include the Eric Gregory Award, the Somerset Maugham Award, the Cholmondeley Award, the Forward Poetry Prize and the T. S. Eliot Prize.

Owen Sheers FRSL is a Welsh poet, author, playwright and television presenter. He was the first writer-in-residence to be appointed by any national rugby union team.