Susan Denning is the director of Programs and Events at Literary Arts in Portland, Oregon, where she serves as program director for the Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships program. She is also an adjunct professor of writing at Marylhurst University, and her poetry has appeared in several publications.

Willy Vlautin has published three novels, The Motel Life, Northline, and Lean on Pete. His fourth novel, The Free will be published spring of 2014. He also founded the band Richmond Fontaine, which has achieved critical acclaim at home and across Europe.

Patrick deWitt is the author of Ablutions: Notes for a Novel and The Sisters Brothers.

Ismet Prcic is a Bosnian-American writer. His debut novel Shards won the Los Angeles Times and Sue Kaufman awards for first fiction as well as the Oregon Book Awards in fiction. Recipient of an NEA Award for Fiction in 2010, he is a Sundance Institute's Screenwriting fellow.