Lee Martin is the author of four novels, including the Pulitzer Prize Finalist, The Bright Forever. He is also the author of three memoirs, most recently Such a Life, and a story collection, The Least You Need to Know. He teaches in the creative writing program at The Ohio State University.

Carrie Brown is the author of seven novels, most recently The Stargazer's Sister, and a collection of short stories. She has won many fellowships and awards for her work, and she teaches at Sweet Briar College where she also directs the College's Center for Creativity, Design, and the Arts.

Matt Bondurant is the author of the novels The Night Swimmer, The Wettest County in the World (2008, which became the movie Lawless), and The Third Translation. He has published short stories, poems, and articles in numerous publications, and in 2013 signed a development deal with HBO.

Danielle Lazarin is the author of Back Talk: Stories. Her award-winning fiction can be found in The Southern Review, Buzzfeed, Colorado Review, Indiana Review, Glimmer Train, Boston Review, amongst others, and her essays in The Cut and Lenny Letter. She lives in New York.