In the Kingdom of Men

Kim Barnes is the author of IN THE KINGDOM OF MEN, a novel set in 1960s Saudi Arabia. She is also the author of A COUNTRY CALLED HOME, FINDING CARUSO, and two memoirs, IN THE WILDERNESS: COMING OF AGE IN UNKNOWN COUNTRY, finalist for the 1997 Pulitzer Prize; and HUNGRY FOR THE WORLD. She is the co-editor with Mary Clearman Blew of CIRCLE OF WOMEN: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY WESTERN WOMEN WRITERS, and with Claire Davis of KISS TOMORROW HELLO: NOTES FROM THE MIDLIFE UNDERGROUND BY TWENTY-FIVE WOMEN OVER FORTY. Her essays, stories, and poems have appeared in a number of journals and anthologies, including GEORGIA REVIEW, SHENANDOAH, MORE MAGAZINE, O MAGAZINE, THE NEW YORK TIMES, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, and the Pushcart Prize anthology. She teaches writing at the University of Idaho and lives with her husband, the poet, Robert Wrigley, on Moscow Mountain.

Rachel Joyce is the author of the Sunday Times and international bestsellers The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, The Music Shop and a collection of interlinked short stories, A Snow Garden & Other Stories. Her books have been translated into thirty-six languages and two are in development for film.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book prize and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Rachel was awarded the Specsavers National Book Awards ‘New Writer of the Year’ in December 2012 and shortlisted for the ‘UK Author of the Year’ 2014.

Rachel has also written over twenty original afternoon plays and adaptations of the classics for BBC Radio 4, including all the Bronte novels. She moved to writing after a long career as an actor, performing leading roles for the RSC, the National Theatre and Cheek by Jowl.

She lives with her family in Gloucestershire.