Ellen Hagan is a writer, performer, educator, and author of Crowned. Her latest collection is Hemisphere. A proud Kentucky writer, Ellen is a member of Affrilachian Poets and Conjure Woman, and cofounder of girlstory.

Matthew Shenoda is the author of Somewhere Else, winner of the American Book Award, Seasons of Lotus, Seasons of Bone, and Tahrir Suite. He is associate professor in the Department of Creative Writing at Columbia College Chicago. For more information visit: www.matthewshenoda.com

Maya Pindyck is the author of the poetry collections Emoticoncert and Friend Among Stones, and a chapbook, Locket, Master. A doctoral candidate at Columbia University's Teachers College, she lives and teaches in New York City.

Mitchell L.H. Douglas is the author of \blak\ \al-fə bet\, winner of the Lexi Rudnitsky/Editor's Choice Award, and Cooling Board: A Long-Playing Poem, an NAACP Image Award nominee. An Affrilachian Poets founder and Cave Canem fellow, he is an associate professor of English at IUPUI.

Kelly Norman Ellis is an associate professor of English at Chicago State University and chairperson of the English department. She is a poet who is Cave Canem fellow and a founding members of the Affrilachian Poets. She has written two poetry collections, Offerings of Desire and Tougaloo Blues.