Louisa Hooper was born and brought up in London. She graduated from Cambridge in English Literature and gained a Masters Degree in Creative Writing at Bath Spa. Having taught English in Japan and the UK, Louisa now works as an editor and project coordinator for the Gulbenkian Foundation in London. She has been writing poetry for a number of years and her work features in the third Poetry School anthology I Am Twenty People! (Enitharmon 2007). She has also published in Tabla, Magma and Citizen 32 and was a winner in the Barnet Open Poetry Competition in 2001. Louisa has been a poetry judge for the Koestler competition since 2007 and an editor on Brittle Star since 2002. www.poetrypf.co.uk/louisahooperpage.html
Jacqueline Gabbitas was born in Nottinghamshire and completed her BA(Hons) in English and Film and MA in Writing at Sheffield Hallam University. Her poetry and short stories have been published in magazines and anthologies including: Poetry Review, Oxford Magazine, Magma, Staple, New Fairy Tales, Entering the Tapestry (Enitharmon Press 2003) Images of Women (Arrowhead Press 2006), and Well Versed (2008) among others. In 2007 she was short-listed in the New Writing Ventures Awards and her pamphlet, Mid Lands, was published by Hearing Eye. In 2009 one of her poems was highly commended in the Forward Prize anthology. She was a poetry judge for the Koestler competition (2003-2006) and is a Hawthornden Fellow. She is the Marketing Manager for Enitharmon Press and a lecturer at the University of East London. She joined Brittle Star in 2002. www.jacquelinegabbitas.net
David Floyd’s poetry has been published in magazines and anthologies including South Bank Poetry, Morning Star, Well Versed (Hearing Eye 2008), and In the Company of Poets (Hearing Eye 2000). His pamphlet War in the Playground was published by Hearing Eye in 2003. Before co-founding the community interest company Social Spider in 2003, David worked for four years as editor of Exposure magazine, the multi-award-winning youth participation project based in North London. He currently sits on the editorial boards of a range of magazines and periodicals straddling the line between arts and social action. He is a board member of both Inpress and Utter and has consulted for, among others: The Connection at St Martins, Collage Arts, The Bridge New Deal for Communities, the GLA, Connexions North London, Communities in Focus, ABCtales.com, Hearing Eye press, Get Ethical.com and The Big Issue. He joined the magazine in 2004. www.socialspider.com
Martin Parker was born in North Nottinghamshire and studied photography at Napier University, Edinburgh. He moved to London in 1997 and completed his MA (Fine Art) at Central Saint Martins, London. His work has been exhibited in Sheffield, Edinburgh, London and Poznan, Poland, including solo shows, and he has curated a number of international and UK exhibitions. He has worked as a graphic designer since 1997 and specializes in education and the arts. His clients include: Tate Modern, Terra Incognita, Refugee Council, The Poetry Society, The Poetry School, Poetry London, Enitharmon Press, Hearing Eye, Lambeth Archive, Norwood, Middlesex University, Social Spider, and the Zoological Society of London. He is the Production Editor for both Poetry London and the Long Poem Magazine and has been an editor on Brittle Star since 2004. www.silbercow.co.uk
Lynda How graduated with a First Class BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Middlesex University. She is a retired teacher and special educational needs coordinator. Projects she has been involved with include voluntary teaching in South Africa and teaching Philosophy for Children in London for children and young adults with special needs. She is a member of the North London Stanza Group led by Katherine Gallagher, a compére for Word for Word poetry evenings and a committee member of Poetry in Palmers Green. She joined Brittle Star in 2009 following her internship.
In 2009, Middlesex University established with Brittle Star an annual internship as part of their BA (Hons) in Creative Writing. The placements have proved very successful both for the magazine and the students. Our first intern was Lynda How who received a first class mark for the work she did with Brittle Star. Our current intern is Saskia Katarina Hidas.
Saskia Katarina Hidas was born in Norway and moved to London to study in 2007. She is currently finishing her BA in Creative Writing and English Literature at Middlesex University. During her first year in the UK, she wrote monthly articles about life in London for the Norwegian newspaper Romerikes Blad. She published a causerie 'Har du lyst har du lov' ('If you want to, you're allowed to') in the magazine Norsklæreren. In 2007 she was a Stage Manager for the director Stig Bråten for Ibsen's Peer Gynt at the Black Box Theatre in Oslo. She has a growing interest in photography; several of her photographs have been printed alongside her articles, and one of her images of Berlin appears on the cover of Issue 25 of Brittle Star.