Stephen O’Connor has published five books, including the novel, Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings, and the short story collection, Here Comes Another Lesson. His fiction has appeared in the New Yorker, Best American Short Stories, and many other places.

Helen Benedict, a professor at Columbia University, is the award-winning author of six novels, five books of nonfiction, and a play. Her latest novel, Sand Queen, and nonfiction book, The Lonely Soldier, inspired a lawsuit against the Pentagon and the Oscar-nominated film, The Invisible War.

Helen Phillips is the author of four books, including the novel The Beautiful Bureaucrat (a New York Times Notable Book and a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize and the NYPL Young Lions Award) and two short story collections, Some Possible Solutions and And Yet They Were Happy.

Ellery Washington is an associate professor of creative writing at the Pratt Institute and the author of Buffalo, a forthcoming novel. His work has appeared in numerous publications and literary anthologies, including The New York Times, Ploughshares, and the International Review.