Wayne Johnston was born in Goulds, Newfoundland. He has written five novels, of which The Navigator of New York (2002) is the latest. His previous novel, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams (1998), was nominated for the most prestigious fiction awards in Canada; it won the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize and the Canadian Authors' Association Award for Fiction. His memoir, Baltimore's Mansion (1999), was awarded the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction.

Boyd Norman was born and raised in Newfoundland. As an actor, he has appeared in theatres across Canada including Theatre Newfoundland and Labrador, Rising Tide Theatre, The Charlottetown Festival and the Vancouver Playhouse. He also appeared in the Newfoundland TV series Pigeon Inlet and in the Stephen King movie IT. He recently appeared with the CBC Vancouver Orchestra in the North American Premiere of Roald Dahl's Goldilocks. Boyd is a familiar voice to CBC Radio audiences from his many appearances including the title role of Flynn in the radio series of the same name for The Mystery Project.