Joshua Bernstein is an assistant professor of creative writing at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and the fiction editor of Tikkun. His novel, Rachel’s Tomb, was a finalist for the James Jones Award, and his work has appeared in Shenandoah, Kenyon Review Online, and Harpur Palate. 

Jill Alexander Essbaum is the author of several collections of poetry including Heaven, Harlot, and Necropolis. Her first novel, Hausfrau, is forthcoming. She teaches in the University of California, Riverside Palm Desert low-residency MFA program.

Ben Stroud is the author of Byzantium: Stories, which won the Story Prize Spotlight Award and the Bakeless Fiction Prize. His fiction has appeared in Harper's, One Story, Antioch Review, Best American Mystery Stories, and New Stories from the South. He teaches at the University of Toledo.

Stephan Eirik Clark is the author of the novel Sweetness #9 and Vladimir’s Mustache, a short story collection that was named a finalist for the 2013 Minnesota Book Award. He teaches at Augsburg College.

N.M. Kelby is the author of several novels, including White Truffles in Winter and In The Company of Angels. She has presented workshops based on the book, The Constant Art of Being a Writer: The Life, Art & Business of Fiction, at Book Expo America and across the country.