This conference on the Geometry of Riemann Surfaces and related topics was held in the beautiful hill town of Anogia at the Conference Centre of the University of Crete, spanning four days in June and July 2007. The pretext was the celebration of Bill Harvey's 65th birthday and retirement from teaching. About 50 mathematicians and friends came, many from far-flung points of the globe, to enjoy this opportunity to refresh mind, body and spirit.

We invited all participants to contribute articles based on their talks or related material; the response was wholehearted and expert, with the result that you see before you. The broad range of topics addressed by the articles re?ects the pervasive influence of the theory of Riemann surfaces and the remarkable variety of geometric ideas and methods which flow from it; this expansive aspect of the field will be discussed by Bill Harvey in the introduction which follows.

We take this opportunity also to thank Professor Harvey himself, whose supportive and knowledgeable comments provided foil and inspiration for all the participants.

On behalf of those lucky enough to be at Anogia for this conference, we thank all the sponsors, the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (Grant C-101), the Spanish Government Ministerio Español de Educación y Ciencia (Grants MTM2006-01859 & MTM2006-28257-E), the Department of Mathematics of the University of Crete and the Anogia Academic Village, Crete, for generous financial support which made the meeting possible; in particular, the funding provided subsistence and travel expenses for graduate students and others lacking support.