Hans Christian Andersen (Dinamarca, 1805) fue un hombre de origen humilde y formación esencialmente autodidacta. Aun así, como escritor abarcó todos los géneros literarios: novela, cuento, libros de viajes, poesía, teatro, aunque su importancia radica fundamentalmente en los cuentos de hadas, en los que fusiona lo sobrenatural con lo cotidiano. Inspirándose en tradiciones populares y narraciones mitológicas, así como en experiencias personales, escribió más de 150 cuentos protagonizados por personajes de la vida diaria, héroes míticos, animales y objetos animados. Sus obras han sido traducidas a más de 80 idiomas y han sido adaptadas a teatro, ballet, cine, y representadas en esculturas y pinturas. En su honor, desde 1956 se concede, cada dos años, el Premio Hans Christian Andersen.

Andrew Lang FBA fue un poeta, novelista, crítico literario y colaborador escocés en el campo de la antropología. Es más conocido como coleccionista de cuentos populares y de hadas. Las conferencias de Andrew Lang en la Universidad de St Andrews llevan su nombre.

Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (1785-1863) collected and published Germanic and European folk and fairy tales during the early to mid 19th century. Some of the world’s most classic and beloved stories have been published by them, including "Rumplestiltskin," "Snow White," "Sleeping Beauty," "Rapunzel," "Cinderella," "Hansel and Gretel," and many more. Margaret Hunt lives in England.

Jakob Karl Grimm was born on January 4, 1785, in Hanau, Germany. His brother, Wilhelm Karl Grimm, was born on February 24, 1786. Court librarians, linguists, scholars, translators, and writers, the Brothers Grimm collected stories told by peasants and villagers and published them in written form, forming the foundation of the most beloved fairy tales of our time. Recipient of the 2012 Gold Grand Prize for Best Travel Story of the Year, Peter Wortsman is the author of A Modern Way to Die: Small Stories and Microtales, the plays The Tattooed Man Tells All and Burning Words, the recent memoir Ghost Dance in Berlin: A Rhapsody in Gray, and the forthcoming novel Cold Earth Wanderers. His translations from the German include Robert Musil¢s Posthumous Papers of a Living Author, Heinrich Heine¢s Travel Pictures, Peter Altenberg¢s Telegrams of the Soul, and Tales of the German Imagination: From The Brothers Grimm to Ingeborg Bachmann, an anthology published by Penguin Classics.

James Stephens was an Irish novelist and poet. James Stephens produced many retellings of Irish myths and fairy tales. His retellings are marked by a rare combination of humor and lyricism (Deirdre, and Irish Fairy Tales are often especially praise). He also wrote several original novels (Crock of Gold, Etched in Moonlight, Demi-Gods) based loosely on Irish fairy tales. "Crock of Gold," in particular, achieved enduring popularity and was reprinted frequently throughout the author's lifetime. Stephens began his career as a poet with the tutelage of "Æ" (George William Russell). His first book of poems, "Insurrections," was published during 1909. His last book, "Kings and the Moon" (1938), was also a volume of verse.