GLEN VAUDREY

GLEN WRITES: "I am one of the UK's leading researchers of tales concerning the Scottish waterhorse tradition and sightings. Last year saw the publication of my first book in the CFZ's Mystery Animals of the British Isles series, 'The Mystery Animals of the Western Isles', the follow up to this, ''The Mystery Animals of the Northern Isles', my second volume in the series,will be published later this year, with more volumes to appear in the next couple of years. I am also currently investigating reports of Iceland’s feathered cryptid the Hverafuglar (hot spring bird) with the aim of going on an expedition searching for any signs or sightings of this remarkable bird within the next couple of years.

I'm married to Kerry and currently living at the northern tip of rural Cheshire in a village vacated by my ancestors some 150 years ago, surely whatever they did must have been forgotten by now."

MAX BLAKE

Max is one of the frighteningly young whizzkids who are threatening to take over the CFZ. They are younger, and better looking than the vast majority of the Permanent Directorate, and in many cases they are cleverer. What are we to do? Well, there is only one option really. Put them on at the Weird Weekend and welcome them into the wider crypto community. Max is a rising star; just about to start reading zoology at Bristol University, he is one of the front runners to be leading the CFZ in a few decades time.

MATT SALUSBURY

Matt is a freelance journalist and a regular contributor to Fortean Times, and is news and features editor of English as a Foreign Language industry trade paper English Language Gazette. He is an active member of the National Union of Journalists, for whom he co-edits the Freelance newsletter (www.londonfreelance.org). His hobbies include using the Data Protection Act to obtain data on him that’s gathered by various police forces every time he attends a demo – including this photo, which he obtained from a Metrpolitan Police “National Coordinator Domestic Extremism” database.

RONAN COGHLAN

The undoubted star of the last few years, we couldn't imagine hosting a Weird Weekend without him; in a weekend packed with great performers, Ronan will probably be the most funniest speaker. He was born in Dublin, 1948.

After a school career in which he often made minimal effort, he went on to Trinity College, Dublin, from which he holds an MA degree and the Higher Diploma in Education. He has worked at a large number of schools in both Ireland and Britain, notably at Hawkhurst Court (Sussex) and Rockport (Northern Ireland). He harbours a low opinion of current education and the philosophy lying behind it.

His first venture into writing occurred with Irish Christian Names (1979). His Encyclopaedia of Arthurian Legends (1991) proved highly popular, selling 120,000 copies worldwide and being translated into Japanese. His small Dictionary of Irish Myth and Legend has also sold widely. His major work on cryptozoology A Dictionary of Cryptozoology (2004) was aimed chiefly at those who could not afford the monumental works of Eberhart and Newman, yet who needed a good reference book on the subject, which is approached more from a folkloric than a zoological angle. His Handbook of Fairies (1998) is a n alphabetical guide to that subject. He has also written Cryptosup, a booklet supplementing his dictionary. He is currently working on a number of projects.

Ronan Coghlan is married with three children. He currently lives in Bangor, Northern Ireland.

RICHARD FREEMAN

Richard Freeman is one of Britain's few professional cryptozoologists. His interest in unknown animals reaches back to his childhood and he has had a long and varied career working with exotic creatures. He was head curator of reptiles at Twycross zoo in the Midlands. From 1996-8 he studied zoology at Leeds university and later moved to Exeter to work full time as the Zoological Director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology, the UK`s only cryptozoological organisation.

MORE SPEAKER DETAILS COMING SOON