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The writer Alison Moore was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize in 2012 for her novel ‘The Lighthouse’ (Salt). Alison has contributed a story to ‘The Longest Night’, (Curious Tales) a collection of winter ghost stories. Alison explains how you create fear in a contemporary setting, and the perils of being called Derek.

The best-selling author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin has always been a lover of poetry, particularly that of the Greek poet Constantine Cavafy. Louis has just published his first collection of poetry, ‘Imagining Alexandria’ (Harvill Secker), a collection inspired by Cavafy. Louis reads from the collection, and tells Ian how he fell in love with Cavafy’s work.

Scroobius Pip is now a firm fixture on the spoken word scene, he curates the spoken word stage at Bestival, hosts a weekly radio show, and he’s just released his third album with musical collaborator Dan le Sac. Scroobius pip performs from ‘Repent, Replenish Repeat’ (Sunday Best), and discusses why such a cheerful guy writes such dark poetry.

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Folk Duo Belinda O’Hooley and Heidi Tidow write songs infused with Yorkshire rhythms of speech and rooted in the landscape. For the Christmas Verb they perform two unconventional Christmas songs, ‘The Last Polar Bear’ and ‘One More Christmas’, Belinda and Heidi explain why these are Christmas songs, Christmas hits.