Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) was a German philosopher, essayist, and critic whose writings about morality, truth, language, aesthetics, and nihilism are considered cornerstones of Western philosophy.

Michael Hulse is a poet, translator and critic. He has won numerous awards for his poetry and his 2013 collection, Half Life, was chosen as a Book of the Year in the Australian Book Review. He has translated many works from the German, including titles by Goethe, Rilke, and W. G. Sebald. His translations have been shortlisted for numerous major translation awards, including the PEN Translation Prize, the Aristeion Translation Prize, and the Schlegel-Tieck Prize. He teaches poetry and comparative literature at Warwick University.

Joanna Kavenna is the author of several works of fiction and non-fiction
including The Ice Museum, Inglorious, The Birth of Love and A Field Guide to Reality. Her short stories and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, the London Review of Books, the New Scientist, The Guardian and The New York Times, among other publications. In 2008 she won the Orange Prize for New Writing, and in 2013 she was named as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists.