Matthew Nienow is the author of House of Water. His work has been recognized with Ruth Lilly and NEA fellowships, and has appeared in Poetry, New England Review, Narrative, and many other magazines and anthologies. He makes his living building custom wooden paddle boards.

francine j. harris’s first collection, allegiance, was a finalist for the 2013 Kate Tufts Discovery and PEN Open Book Award. She is a Cave Canem fellow and a writer in residence with Front Street Writers. She is a member of the creative writing faculty at Interlochen Center for the Arts.

Jamaal May’s poetry explores the tension between opposites to render a sonically rich argument for the interconnectivity of people, worlds, and ideas. He is the author of Hum and The Big Book of Exit Strategies, and the recipient of numerous honors and awards.

Matthew Olzmann is the author of two collections of poems, Mezzanines and Contradictions in the Design. He teaches in the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College.

Janine Joseph is the author of Driving Without a License, winner of the Kundiman Poetry Prize. Her libretti for the Houston Grand Opera/HGOco include What Wings They Were, On This Muddy Water, and From My Mother's Mother. She is an assistant professor of creative writing at Oklahoma State University.