Susanna Daniel’s debut novel, Stiltsville, was awarded the 2011 PEN/Bingham Award for best debut fiction, and her second novel, Sea Creatures, is the Target Book Club selection for September 2014, and was called  “a captivating, haunting novel” by Abraham Verghese.

Michelle Wildgen is the author of the novels Bread and Butter, But Not For Long, and You’re Not You (both available in paperback from Picador), and is the editor of an anthology, Food & Booze: A Tin House Literary Feast (Tin House Books). 

Christopher Chambers is editor of Midwest Review and past editor of Black Warrior Review and New Orleans Review. His work has appeared in Best American Mystery Stories and was noted in Best American Essays. He’s the author of Delta 88 and Kind of Blue (forthcoming in 2022).

Michael Graf is an Emmy Award winning filmmaker and was named one of the “Top 25 Screenwriters To Watch in 2021” by the International Screenwriters Association. He’s produced and optioned scripts include WINTER OF FROZEN DREAMS, THE LAST INDIAN WAR, THROWING HAMMERS and GOD LOVES THE PACKERS.

Deshawn McKinney is a writer from Milwaukee, Wisconsin working in whatever medium is best to tell the story. A two-time Pushcart Prize nominee, his work appears in journals such as Lolwe, Ploughshares, and Glass: A Journal of Poetry. Deshawn has created and performed around the world, from Italy to England, and served as the 2023 Writer in Residence for the Fourth Lake Writing Retreat. His debut chapbook, father forgive me, was published by Black Sunflowers Poetry Press in 2021.

Steven Wright’s debut novel, THE COYOTES OF CARTHAGE (Ecco, 2020), was widely praised by critics and readers — and John Grisham, who said, “With this splendid debut, Steven Wright announces his arrival as a major new voice in the world of political thrillers. I enjoyed it immensely.”