Jocelyn Hale is director of the Loft Literary Center. During her tenure, the Loft has been featured in strategic planning books and won awards for MCN’s “Anti-Racism Initiative,” and APA’s “Psychologically Healthy Workplace.” Her essays have appeared in newspapers, magazines, and radio.

Trevino L. Brings Plenty is a social worker. He is the author of Real Indian Junk Jewelry. His poetry has appeared in many journals and is included in the poetry anthologies Portland Lights and Shedding Skins: Four Sioux Poets. He is also a singer-songwriter and guitarist.

Louise Erdrich's latest novel, The Round House, was awarded the National Book Award. She owns Birchbark Books, a small independent bookstore in Minneapolis. She is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa.

Heid E. Erdrich is author of four poetry collections including Cell Traffic and National Monuments, which won the Minnesota Book Award. Her collaborative poem films have been screened at festivals in the US and Canada. She recently began teaching in the low-residency MFA program at Augsburg College.