Dolan Cummings is an Associate Fellow of the Academy of Ideas, part of the committee that programmes the annual Battle of Ideas, and a regular participant at the festival and other IoI events. He has a particular interest in religion and politics, especially in the USA and India. He is also one of the co-founders of the Manifesto Club, a campaign group for freedom in everyday life, and has written widely on related subjects.

His novel, That Existential Leap: a crime story, will be published by Zero Books later this year. It is part bildungsroman and part psychological thriller; a second novel is also in progress. Aside from writing fiction, Dolan works as a freelance copywriter and editor and a speechwriter for social, political and business clients.