LeAnne Howe (Choctaw) is a novelist, poet, and filmmaker. Her latest book is Savage Conversations from Coffee House Press. Some awards include a United States Artist Ford Fellowship, an American Book Award, and an Oklahoma Book Award. She's the Eidson Distinguished Chair in English at the University of Georgia, Athens.

Kimberly Blaeser, past Wisconsin poet laureate, is the author of five poetry collections, most recently Copper Yearning. A professor at UW—Milwaukee and MFA faculty member for Institute of American Indian Arts, Blaeser is Anishinaabe and founding director of Indigenous Nation Poets.