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 two story collections. He teaches in the creative writing program at The Ohio State University.

Bonnie Friedman is the author of the books Writing Past Dark, The Thief of Happiness, and Surrendering Oz: A Life in Essays, longlisted for the PEN award in the Art of the Essay. Her work has appeared in The Best American Movie Writing, The Best Writing on Writing, and The Best Buddhist Writing.

Harrison Candelaria Fletcher is the author of the award-winning Descanso For My Father: Fragments of a Life and Presentimiento: A Life in Dreams. His essays and prose poems have appeared widely in journals and anthologies. He teaches at Colorado State University and Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Kyoko Mori is the author of three nonfiction books (The Dream of Water; Polite Lies; and Yarn) and four novels (Shizuko's Daughter; One Bird; Stone Field, True Arrow; and Barn Cat). She teaches creative writing at George Mason University and for the low-residency MFA program at Lesley University.

Lia Purpura authored nine collections (essays, poems, and translations) most recently, All the Fierce Tethers (essays.) Her awards include Guggenheim, NEA, and Fulbright fellowships, and four Pushcarts. On Looking (essays) was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. She teaches at UMBC.