Maria Brandt directs Creative Writing at Monroe Community College in Rochester, NY. She is the author of the novella All The Words and the short-play collection NY Plays. Her short fiction has been published in several literary magazines, and her plays have been developed or produced around the country.

Kathryn Kysar is the author of two books of poetry, Dark Lake and Pretend the World, and she edited Riding Shotgun: Women Write About Their Mothers. A previous AWP board member, Kysar is the founder of the creative writing program at Anoka-Ramsey Community College in Minneapolis.

Mary F. Rockcastle is the author of the novels In Caddis Wood and Rainy Lake. She is Director of the Creative Writing Programs at Hamline University and Executive Editor of Water~Stone Review. Her awards include a Loft-McKnight Award of Distinction in Prose and a Bush Fellowship.

Dave Smithson is a graduate student at University of Central Florida studying creative writing. He is a first-generation and nontraditional student who started his education as a high school dropout at St. Charles Community College, where he received his GED and Associates of Arts degree. He received his BFA from TSU.

Joe Baumann teaches composition, literature, and creative writing at St. Charles Community College, where he leads the creative writing program. He holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.