Morris West (1916–1999) was born in Australia, but lived for extended periods in Italy, Austria, England and the USA. West started writing novels in the 1950s. He is the author of thirty novels and has sold more than 60 million copies of his books worldwide in over twenty-seven languages. West helped to found the Australian Society of Authors, was chairman of the National Book Council, chairman of the National Library of Australia and a fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science. He was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1997. West also wrote screenplays, radio dramas, plays and was also an artist.
Paul English is an actor and narrator based in Melbourne who has appeared in more than 40 productions with major Australian theatre companies. Some highlights include Shakespeare's Hamlet, Chekhov’s Ivanov and Stoppard's Arcadia. Paul's television credits include SeaChange, Curtin and Gallipoli. His narration of Li Cunxin's Mao's Last Dancer and Coming Rain by Stephen Daisley have both won AudioFile Earphones Awards.