John Pipkin is the author of the novels Woodsburner and The Blind Astronomer's Daughter. He is the recipient of the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, as well as fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and Dobie-Paisano. He teaches at the University of Texas at Austin and in the Spalding University low-residency MFA program.

Dominic Smith is the author of four novels, including the New York Times bestseller The Last Painting of Sara de Vos. He teaches in the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers and received a 2018 Literature Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Robin Oliveira is the author of there novels: My Name is Mary Sutter, I Always Loved You. and Winter Sisters. She is the recipient of the James Jones First Novel Fellowship, the Michael Shaara Prize for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and an honorable mention from the David Langum Trust.

Elizabeth Crook is the author of five novels, including The Night Journal, which received the Spur Award from Western Writers of America; Monday, Monday, a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2014 and winner of the Jesse H. Jones Award from the Institute of Texas Letters; and The Which Way Tree.