Tom de Freston – Poiesis

Tom de Freston is an Oxford-based artist and writer. He is represented by Varvara Roza Galleries for art, Harriet Moore for writing, and Paul Black for illustration. His published works include Wreck and Strange Bodies with Granta. Alongside his wife, he created Julia and the Shark (winner of Waterstones Gift of the Year) and Leila and the Blue Fox (winner of the Wainwright Prize).

Kiran Millwood Hargrave is a Sunday Times bestselling novelist with over a dozen books to her name, including The Girl of Ink & Stars, The Mercies, The Geomancer Trilogy, and Almost Life. With her husband, she created Julia and the Shark, winner of the Waterstones Gift of the Year, and Leila and the Blue Fox, winner of the Wainwright Prize.

Caroline Vout is Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge and Director of its Museum of Classical Archaeology. A historian specializing in ancient Greek and Roman art and literature, her recent publications include Exposed: the Greek and Roman Body (Sunday Times Book of the Year) and Classical Art: a Life History from Antiquity to the Present.

Varvara Roza is an artist manager and private art advisor operating at the highest level of the contemporary art world. As CEO of Varvara Roza Galleries, she specializes in long-term artist representation, institutional positioning, and strategic collection building, combining rigorous curatorial insight with deep market intelligence.

Matthew Holman is a writer and art historian based in London. He holds a PhD from University College London and has held fellowships from Yale University, the Smithsonian, the Courtauld Institute, and the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies, Berlin. His book, Frank O’Hara & MoMA: New York Poet, Global Curator, was published by Bloomsbury in 2025.