Maaza Mengiste is a Fulbright Scholar and author of the award-winning Beneath the Lion’s Gaze, selected by The Guardian as one of the 10 best contemporary African books. Her writing can be found in The New Yorker, The Guardian, Granta, The New York Times, BBC Radio 4, Rolling Stone, and other places.

Tabish Khair is a novelist, poet and critic. Winner of the All India Poetry Prize, his novels have been shortlisted for major awards, including the Man Asian (Hong Kong), the Encore Prize (UK), and the DSC Prize (UK/India). His latest novel to appear in USA is Just Another Jihadi Jane.

Emily Barton is author of the novels The Book of Esther, Brookland, and The Testament of Yves Gundron. She has been reviewing books for the The New York Times Book Review for twenty years, and publishes essays widely. Having taught writing at many programs, she currently teaches in the NYU Graduate Creative Writing Program.

Lena Khalaf Tuffaha's book of poetry, Water and Salt, is published by Red Hen Press. Her chapbook, Arab in Newsland won the 2016 Two Sylvias Press Prize. Her poems have been nominated for the Pushcart, Best of the Net, and the Rita Dove Prize. She holds an MFA from the Rainier Writing Workshop at PLU.