Marianne Kunkel is the author of The Laughing Game and numerous published poems. She is an assistant professor of creative writing and publishing at Missouri Western State University.

Lorna Dawes is assistant professor and science librarian at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln with fifteen years of experience in college and high school libraries. She serves as the library consultant for the African Poetry Libraries of the African Poetry Book Fund.

Lee Briccetti has been the Executive Director of Poets House since 1989. Under her leadership, the annual Showcase and Poetry in the Branches were developed and became signature programs, and Poets House mounted a successful capital campaign and construction project, moving to its permanent home.

Katherine Litwin is the library director at the Poetry Foundation, where she develops interactive programing for children and adults and oversees library collections.

Charlene Spearen is an assistant professor and vice president of academic affairs at Allen University in Columbia, South Carolina. A poet and educator, she is in the process of creating the Langston Hughes Poetry Center at Allen University, a library that will have at its core poetry collections by authors of color.