Najaf Mazari was born in a small village near Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan. At the age of 12, he left school and apprenticed himself to a master rugmaker. He fled Afghanistan in 2000, ending up in Woomera Detention Centre. After his release, he settled in Melbourne where he now owns a traditional Afghan rug shop. In 2006, his wife and daughter were finally able to join him in Melbourne, and in 2007, he was granted Australian citizenship. Najaf founded a philanthropic fund, the Masawat Development Fund, that supplies health and education aid to remote villages in the mountains outside Mazar-e-Sharif.

Robert Hillman is a Melbourne-based writer of fiction and biography. His autobiography, The Boy in the Green Suit, won the Australian National Biography Award for 2005. His 2007 biography, My Life as a Traitor, written with Zarah Ghahramani, appeared in numerous overseas editions and was short-listed for the Prime Minister's Literary Awards in 2008. Hillman has published over 80 titles.