Who Are We In This Complicated World?

Hari Kunzru is an American novelist and essayist. He is the author of seven novels, including Gods Without Men, White Tears, Red Pill and Blue Ruin. He is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books, Harper's and the New York Times. He is an Honorary Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and has been a Cullman Fellow at the New York Public Library, a Guggenheim Fellow and a Fellow of the American Academy in Berlin. Kunzru teaches in the Creative Writing programme at New York University.

Hari Kunzru adalah seorang novelis dan esai Amerika. Dia adalah penulis tujuh novel, termasuk Gods Without Men, White Tears, Red Pill dan Blue Ruin. Dia adalah kontributor reguler ke New York Review of Books, Harper's dan New York Times. Dia adalah Honorary Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford, seorang Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, dan telah menjadi Cullman Fellow di New York Public Library, seorang Guggenheim Fellow dan seorang Fellow of the American Academy di Berlin. Kunzru mengajar dalam programme Creative Writing di New York University.

Candice Chung is a Singapore-based Australian writer, journalist, author and creative writing lecturer. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, BBC Radio, Feminist Food Journal, The Australian Gourmet Traveller, The Sydney Morning Herald, Good Food and more. Her debut memoir Chinese Parents Don't Say I Love You was named a Readings Best of 2025 Nonfiction Book and a Financial Times Best Summer Book of 2025. She was a judge for the 2026 Kavya Prize, which seeks to recognise the best writing from Scotland's emerging writers of colour.

Candice Chung adalah seorang penulis, jurnalis, dan dosen creative writing berbasis Singapura. Karyanya telah muncul di The Guardian, BBC Radio, Feminist Food Journal, The Australian Gourmet Traveller, The Sydney Morning Herald, Good Food dan lainnya. Memoar debutnya Chinese Parents Don't Say I Love You dinamai Readings Best of 2025 Nonfiction Book dan Financial Times Best Summer Book of 2025. Dia adalah juri untuk Kavya Prize 2026, yang berusaha untuk mengakui tulisan terbaik dari penulis warna muda yang sedang berkembang di Skotlandia.

Debbie Argue is an Australian Honorary Associate Professor in the School of Culture, History and Language at the Australian National University. Her research focuses on the evolution of our genus, Homo, and she has studied hominin fossils from many prehistoric sites in Indonesia, Africa and Europe. When the discovery of Homo floresiensis was announced, she was intrigued and is very fortunate to have studied its bones and to work on the many questions this exciting discovery presents. Prior to her research as a palaeoanthropologist, she was an archaeologist specialising in Australian archaeology.

Debbie Argue adalah seorang Honorary Associate Professor Australia di School of Culture, History and Language di Australian National University. Penelitiannya fokus pada evolusi genus kita, Homo, dan dia telah mempelajari fosil hominin dari banyak situs prasejarah di Indonesia, Afrika dan Eropa. Ketika penemuan Homo floresiensis diumumkan, dia tertarik dan sangat beruntung telah mempelajari tulang-tulangnya dan bekerja pada banyak pertanyaan yang penemuan menarik ini persembahkan. Sebelum penelitiannya sebagai seorang palaeoanthropologist, dia adalah seorang arkeolog yang berspesialisasi dalam arkeologi Australia.

Sanjoy K. Roy, an Indian entrepreneur of the arts, is Managing Director of Teamwork Arts, which produces over 30 festivals in 45 cities and 19 countries, including the Jaipur Literature Festival, the world's largest literary gathering, and its international editions. He is a founder-trustee of Salaam Baalak Trust, which supports street and working children in inner-city Delhi, benefiting over 1,30,000 children through education, training and residential services. Roy is Co-chair of the Art and Culture Committee of FICCI, and former President of the Event and Entertainment Management Association. He lectures at leading universities worldwide and holds an honorary Doctor of the University degree from the University of York, UK, for his contributions to the arts and society. His debut book, There's a Ghost in my Room: Living with the Supernatural, published by HarperCollins in October 2025, is a kaleidoscopic portrayal of his dramatic life interspersed with enigmatic supernatural experiences.

Sanjoy K. Roy, seorang pengusaha seni asal India, adalah Managing Director Teamwork Arts, yang menyelenggarakan lebih dari 30 festival di 45 kota dan 19 negara, termasuk Jaipur Literature Festival, ajang sastra terbesar di dunia, beserta edisi internasionalnya. Ia adalah salah satu pendiri-wali amanat Salaam Baalak Trust, yang mendukung anak jalanan dan anak pekerja di pusat kota Delhi, dengan lebih dari 1,130,000 anak yang telah mendapat manfaat melalui pendidikan, pelatihan, dan layanan tempat tinggal. Roy adalah Ketua Bersama Komite Seni dan Budaya FICCI, serta mantan Presiden Event and Entertainment Management Association. Ia mengajar di berbagai universitas terkemuka di dunia dan menerima gelar kehormatan Doctor of the University dari University of York, Inggris, atas kontribusinya terhadap seni dan masyarakat. Buku perdananya, There's a Ghost in my Room: Living with the Supernatural, diterbitkan oleh HarperCollins pada Oktober 2025, merupakan potret kaleidoskopik kehidupannya yang dramatis, diselingi pengalaman-pengalaman supernatural yang misterius.

Mahita Vas is a Singaporean author who has published five books, with 15 Grams as her fifth. Mahita was born in Singapore to South Asian parents and educated at a Catholic school. After diverse roles in hospitality and advertising, she gave up corporate life for writing, and is a staunch advocate for mental health and migrant worker welfare. She counts novels, cake, and Singaporean street food as her greatest weaknesses. On any given day, she can be found either immersed in a book or enjoying a meal at a hawker centre. Mahita has twin daughters in their thirties and lives in Singapore with her husband.

Mahita Vas adalah seorang penulis asal Singapura yang telah menerbitkan lima buku, dengan 15 Grams sebagai buku kelimanya. Mahita lahir di Singapura dari orang tua keturunan Asia Selatan dan menempuh pendidikan di sekolah Katolik. Setelah menjalani berbagai peran di bidang perhotelan dan periklanan, ia meninggalkan kehidupan korporat untuk menulis, dan merupakan pendukung setia kesehatan mental serta kesejahteraan pekerja migran. Ia menyebut novel, kue, dan jajanan kaki lima Singapura sebagai kelemahan terbesarnya. Pada hari-hari biasa, ia bisa ditemukan sedang asyik membaca buku atau menikmati makanan di hawker centre (pusat jajanan). Mahita memiliki putri kembar yang kini berusia tiga puluhan dan tinggal di Singapura bersama suaminya.

Indah Gunawan, also known as Indah G, is a Chinese-Indonesian political commentator, podcaster, digital creator, and entrepreneur, best known for her commentary on Indonesian politics, economy, society and culture through The Indah G Show, one of Indonesia's most recognised English-speaking podcasts for younger urban audiences, tackling taboo, controversial, and socially relevant issues shaping modern Indonesian youth. With the motto 'Where Educational & Entertaining gets a lil Explicit,' the show creates space for difficult and intellectually honest conversations, using open dialogue and diverse perspectives to challenge social norms and encourage independent thinking. Beyond her work in politics and content creation, Indah is Founder and CEO of beauty brand Licensed Baddie and author of Transient: The Bridge Between Worlds.

Indah Gunawan, yang juga dikenal sebagai Indah G, adalah komentator politik, podcaster, kreator digital, dan pengusaha keturunan Tionghoa-Indonesia yang dikenal luas melalui komentarnya mengenai politik, ekonomi, masyarakat, dan budaya Indonesia lewat The Indah G Show, salah satu podcast berbahasa Inggris paling dikenal di Indonesia untuk audiens urban muda, yang mengangkat isu-isu tabu, kontroversial, dan relevan secara sosial yang membentuk generasi muda Indonesia masa kini. Dengan moto 'Where Educational & Entertaining gets a lil Explicit,' acara ini menciptakan ruang bagi percakapan yang sulit namun jujur secara intelektual, melalui dialog terbuka dan beragam perspektif untuk menantang norma sosial serta mendorong pemikiran independen. Selain berkiprah di dunia politik dan konten digital, Indah adalah Pendiri dan CEO merek kecantikan Licensed Baddie serta penulis buku Transient: The Bridge Between Worlds.

David Carlin is an Australian writer and creative artist. His narrative nonfiction books include How to Dress for Old Age, 2026, The After-Normal, 2019, The Abyssinian Contortionist, 2015, and Our Father Who Wasn't There, 2010. He has co-edited three international anthologies of new writing and his essays have appeared in Overland, Meanjin, Griffith REVIEW, Hunger Mountain, terrain.org, Westerly and Sydney Review of Books. Originally trained in theatre and film, David later taught at RMIT University, where he co-founded the intercultural writers' exchange programme, WrICE, and the non/fictionLab research group, and is now Emeritus Professor. 

David Carlin adalah seorang penulis dan seniman kreatif asal Australia. Buku-buku nonfiksi naratifnya meliputi How to Dress for Old Age, 2026, The After-Normal, 2019, The Abyssinian Contortionist, 2015, dan Our Father Who Wasn't There, 2010. Ia telah menjadi editor bersama untuk tiga antologi tulisan baru berskala internasional, dan esai-esainya telah dimuat di Overland, Meanjin, Griffith REVIEW, Hunger Mountain, terrain.org, Westerly, dan Sydney Review of Books. Awalnya menempuh pendidikan di bidang teater dan film, David kemudian mengajar di RMIT University, tempat ia turut mendirikan program pertukaran penulis antarbudaya, WrICE, serta kelompok riset non/fictionLab, dan kini menyandang gelar Profesor Emeritus.

Pamela Ng is a Singaporean environmental writer whose work weaves multimedia tapestries of ecological interconnection between environment and biodiversity, approaching writing as an interpreter of and for biodiverse life to reveal the identities, forms, and ecological functions of species and evoke care and compassion for the more-than-human world. Last August, she journeyed to the Riau Islands, where she earned the trust of a dugong hunter who shared with her a story of survival and myth, and drawing on that encounter, her piece The Last Dugong Hunter explores the conflicting ecological and economic forces reshaping the seagrass ecosystems and coastal communities of the Riau Archipelago.

Pamela Ng adalah seorang penulis lingkungan asal Singapura yang karyanya merajut permadani multimedia tentang keterkaitan ekologis antara lingkungan dan keanekaragaman hayati, dengan pendekatan menulis sebagai penerjemah bagi kehidupan hayati yang beragam untuk mengungkap identitas, bentuk, dan fungsi ekologis berbagai spesies serta membangkitkan kepedulian dan rasa welas asih terhadap dunia di luar manusia. Agustus lalu, ia melakukan perjalanan ke Kepulauan Riau, di mana ia berhasil mendapatkan kepercayaan seorang pemburu duyung yang membagikan kisah tentang bertahan hidup dan mitos kepadanya, dan berdasarkan pertemuan tersebut, tulisannya The Last Dugong Hunter mengulas benturan kekuatan ekologis dan ekonomi yang membentuk ulang ekosistem lamun serta komunitas pesisir di Kepulauan Riau.