Khairani Barokka (b. 1985) is a writer and artist from Jakarta, based in London. Okka's work has been presented widely, and centers disability justice as anti-colonial praxis, environmental justice, and access as translation. She has a PhD by Practice in Visual Cultures. Okka has been a UNFPA Indonesian Young Leader Driving Social Change, a Delfina Foundation Associate Artist, an Artforum Must-See, Associate Artist at the UK’s National Centre for Writing, and shortlisted for the Asian Women of Achievement Awards. Her books include Ultimatum Orangutan (Nine Arches), shortlisted for the 2022 Barbellion Prize, and 2024’s amuk (Nine Arches), longlisted for the Jhalak Poetry Prize. Annah, Infinite (Tilted Axis, 2025), a Bookseller's Expert Pick, is her prose debut.

Shamaine Othman is a Malaysian screenwriter, stand-up comedian, and occasional actor and director based in Kuala Lumpur. Her work often looks at relationships and family dynamics familiar to the Nusantara region, with a particular interest in the quiet tensions, humour, and contradictions that shape everyday life.

During her residency, Shamaine worked on a feature-length screenplay about the reunion of a broken Nusantara family during Hari Raya (Eid). Set against the rituals and expectations of the festive season, the film explores what happens when people who have grown apart are brought back into the same space and the moments of connection that follow.

Alexandra Bichara is a Filipino writer and assistant professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman. Her work explores the intersections between literature, ecology, and identity, with a focus on how the natural world shapes Philippine storytelling.

During her residency on Cempedak Island, Alexandra will write about the environment and animals of the shared archipelagic cultures of Indonesia and the Philippines. Her writing will draw from the textures of island life in the Riau Archipelago, including the region's flora, fauna, local community - and the traditions they sustain.

PAMELA NG is a writer, nature guide and sustainability consultant from Singapore. Her work weaves together audioscapes, ecowriting and nature guiding into an artistic expression of interconnectedness with the environment. She seeks to act as an interpreter of and for biodiverse creatures, evoking care and compassion for them by revealing their identity, form, and function in society.

In an essay published in the anthology *Here Was Once The Sea*, Ng explored the ecological relationships and entanglements between humans and snakes. By crafting contemporary stories out of ancient narratives of nature and her lived experience, she invites readers to transform their way of looking at the natural world and the environment around them.