Catherine Burns was born and raised in Manchester, studied at Trinity College Cambridge and then worked as a bond trader in the City of London for six years.

Following a course at The Moscow Film institute, Catherine lectured in Film and Television Studies at Salford University.

Raised on gothic literature such as Wilkie Collins and Edgar Allan Poe, Catherine soon found a love for the dark and sinister side to stories. The Visitors is Catherine's debut novel.

The Moth is an acclaimed not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. Since its launch in 1997, The Moth has presented thousands of stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide.

Moth shows are renowned for the great range of human experience they showcase. The Moth: 50 True Stories - the Moth's first story collection was an international bestseller. They run story slams across the US, Britain, Ireland and Australia.

Adam Gopnik has been writing for the New Yorker since 1986. He is a three-time winner of the National Magazine Award for Essays and for Criticism, and the George Polk Award for magazine reporting.

From 1995 to 2000 he lived in Paris; he now lives in New York City with his wife and their two children.