Larissa FastHorse is a playwright and choreographer from the Sicangu Lakota Nation USA. In 2010 she was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts Distinguished New Play Development Grant. Her past equity theatre productions are AVERAGE FAMILY forChildren's Theatre Company and TEACHING DISCO SQUAREDANCING TO OUR ELDERS: A CLASS PRESENTATION for Native Voices at the Autry. Commissioned plays include FANCY DANCER for Children's Theatre Company, A DANCING PEOPLE for Kennedy Center Theatre for Young Audiences, SERRA SPRINGS for Native Voices at the Autry and LA History Project, and DIFFERENT DOES NOT MEAN THE SAME for Native Voices at the Autry.

Ashish Kumar Ghosh was born in a village in West Bengal in 1944. Memories of the place continued to inspire his artistic self even after he shifted to Delhi in 1957 to complete formal education and make a career in academics in the University of Delhi. Theater was in the family. He was fortunate to find mentors in academics, theater, music, and choreography to combine these inputs to start working in children’s theater from 1986. Henceforth, most of his research themes centered on children, the grassroots, and performance traditions. His original plays are written in Bengali and rooted to culture-friendly traditions of India. His Hindi plays have been devised in workshops first and subsequently written with contributions from the participants. He writes, directs, and performs in plays with the conviction that simple is the most profound. He also leads projects on drama and education. The rest of his time is spent in organizing ASSITEJ India.

Craig Higginson is a novelist, playwright, theatre director, dramaturge, editor and university lecturer. Craig’s writing and directing have been nominated for and won several awards in South Africa and the United Kingdom, including the Sony Gold Award, an Edinburgh Fringe First and a Naledi Award for Best New South African play. He is the Literary Manager and dramaturge at the Market Theatre and teaches playwriting at Wits. His plays and fiction are represented by PFD literary agency in London. He is currently doing his PhD at Wits University.

Finegan (30) has had over 50 commissioned plays performed on five continents, and was an inaugural recipient of the $160,000 Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship.