Shaniya Smith was born and raised near the heart of the Navajo Nation. She received her bachelor’s degree in exercise science at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Currently, she is continuing her studies as a graduate student in NAU’s Master of Fine Arts writing program.

Ann Cummins is the author of the story collection Red Ant House, and a novel, Yellowcake. Her stories have appeared in McSweeney’s, Zyzzyva, Best American Short Stories, and elsewhere. She teaches at Northern Arizona University and in the low-residency MFA program at Queens University of Charlotte.

Andrew Levy is Edna Cooper Chair in English at Butler University, where he has served as MFA Director and currently as English Department Head. He is the author of The First Emancipator, A Brain Wider Than The Sky, and co-editor of The Norton Anthology of Postmodern American Fiction.

Annette McGivney is the longtime Southwest Editor for Backpacker magazine and a Journalism professor at Northern Arizona University. She writes often for outdoor magazines and is the author of five books including her most recent true-crime/memoir Pure Land from Aquarius Press.

K Thompson