Alison Meyers is a poet and fiction writer, twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Currently, she serves as executive director of Cave Canem Foundation, a home for the many voices of African American poetry.

Thylias Moss has published eight collections of poetry, most recently Tokyo Butter; two plays; a memoir; and several books for children. The founder of Limited Fork Poetics, she is a professor of English and art and design at the University of Michigan.

John Keene is the author of the poetry collection Seismosis (with artist Christopher Stackhouse) and Annotations, a novel. An associate professor of English and African American/African Studies at Rutgers University-Newark, he is the translator of Hilda Hilst's novel, Letters from a Seducer.

Tyehimba Jess is the author of two collections of poetry, leadbelly, a 2004 National Poetry Series winner; and Olio, forthcoming in fall 2015. A Detroit native, he is an associate professor of English at the College of Staten Island.

Atsuro Riley’s collection of poetry is Romey’s Order. His work has received, among other recognitions, the Whiting Writers’ Award, the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, and a Pushcart Prize.