David Bowles is a Latino author and university professor from the Río Grande Valley of south Texas. He has received awards from the American Library Association, Texas Institute of Letters, and Texas Associated Press. His nine books include Flower, Song, Dance: Aztec and Maya Poetry, and Border Lore.

Amalia Ortiz is the author of Rant. Chant. Chisme., selected by NBC Latino as one of ten Great Latino Books of 2015. Awarded the Alfredo Cisneros Del Moral Award, and residencies at the National Hispanic Cultural Center and Hedgebrook, she is a CantoMundo Fellow and received her MFA from UTRGV.

Erika Garza Johnson's first book of poetry is Unwoven. She teaches at South Texas College.

Edward Vidaurre has been published in La Bloga, Bordersenses, Interstice, La Noria Literary Journal, and Boundless – Anthology of the Valley International Poetry Festival, and he has three poetry collections: I Took My Barrio on a Road Trip, Insomnia, and Beautiful Scars : Elegiac Beat Poems.

Daniel García Ordaz, The Poet Mariachi, the voice of the Rio Grande Valley (Texas), is an emerging voice in Chicano literature. His first collection, You Know What I'm Sayin'? is a celebration of the common experience of language and culture transfiguring time and place.