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Anika has earned multiple awards from the Minnesota State Arts Board and from the Jerome Foundation, and her writing for adults and children has appeared in numerous publications including Brief Encounters: A Collection of Contemporary Nonfiction, We Are Meant to Rise: Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World, and Boundless: Twenty Voices Celebrating Multicultural and Multiracial Identities, as well as Travel + Leisure magazine. With a Masters in Library Science, she is a former librarian and also the founder of the author collective, MN BIPOC Kidlit Creators. When she’s not writing, find her teaching at Augsburg University’s MFA program or interviewing authors on her podcast Gobblefunking with Words. Anika lives with her family in Minneapolis.  

Winnie M Li is an American author and activist living in the UK with her partner and young son. A Harvard graduate, Winnie has written for travel guidebooks, produced independent feature films, programmed for film festivals, and developed eco-tourism projects. Her first novel Dark Chapter was nominated for an Edgar Award and translated into ten languages, followed by the critically acclaimed Complicit. A survivor and advocate against gendered violence, she holds a PhD from the London School of Economics in Media Studies and is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing.

Sue William Silverman is an award-winning author known for her fearless explorations of trauma, identity, and personal transformation. Her latest book, “Selected Misdemeanors: Essays at the Mercy of the Reader,” showcases her signature blend of lyricism, insight, and unflinching honesty.Her previous titles include “Acetylene Torch Songs: Writing True Stories to Ignite the Soul,” winner of the IPPY Silver Award and a finalist for two Foreword INDIE Book of the Year Awards in the self-help and reference categories. She is also the author of “How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences,” which received the gold Foreword INDIE Book of the Year Award and the Clara Johnson Award for Women’s Literature. Earlier works include “Love Sick: One Woman’s Journey through Sexual Addiction,” adapted into a Lifetime TV movie; “Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You,” winner of the AWP Award for Creative Nonfiction; and “The Pat Boone Fan Club: My Life as a White Anglo-Saxon Jew.”Silverman co-chairs the MFA in Writing Program at Vermont College of Fine Arts and is a frequent guest in national media. Her appearances include “The View,” “Anderson Cooper 360,” and “PBS Books.” 

H. Lee Barnes is the author of ten books, including four novels and four short story collections. His short fiction has received the Willamette Fiction Award and the Arizona Author's Association Fiction Award. His last collection, Life Is a Country Western Song, garnered the 2019 New Mexico/Arizona Book Award for Fiction Other. In addition, Barnes was honored by the Vietnam Veterans of America with an Excellence in the Arts Award for his Vietnam War books, and in 2009 he was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame. He earned his MFA in creative writing from Arizona State University and taught English and creative writing at the College of Southern Nevada, retiring emeritus in 2017. Barnes lives in the Hualapai Valley in northern Arizona. 

Stephen Greenblatt is the Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University. He has written extensively on English Renaissance literature and acts as general editor of The Norton Anthology of English Literature and The Norton Shakespeare. He is the author of fifteen books, including The Swerve, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, and Will in the World, a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Dark Renaissance is his latest. 

Kathy Watson is a chef and author. But she wasn't always. Before opening her two restaurants and writing her first books, she spent twenty years as a journalist and public relations executive. The Orphans of the Living is her debut novel. In her previous life, she was press secretary to the Oregon State Senate Democrats, and director of communications for two state agencies. She served a brief (but disastrous) stint as press secretary to the mayor of Portland, Bud Clark. She was also as editor-in-chief of Oregon Business magazine for six years. In 1998, she started a media relations firm with her husband and fellow writer, Stu Watson. In 2004, she said goodbye all that and became the chef and owner of Viento in Bingen, Washington, and the acclaimed Nora's Table in Hood River, Oregon. In addition to Orphans of the Living, she has written a memoir, Last Morning at Nora's Table and is at work on a second novel, A Place Far Down the River.Her community activities include serving as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for children. Kathy attended the University of Oregon School of Journalism, but left one term shy of graduation to take her first newspaper job at the Lake County Examiner in Lakeview, OR. She lives in Hood River, OR and runs and hikes the trails in the Columbia River Gorge with her dog, Satchel and husband, Stu. 

Stacy has been capturing the essence of place through an intuitive use of light, color and composition for almost two decades. Her signature images of architecture, interiors and gardens have resulted in three solo exhibitions and numerous awards. Her photography has been featured extensively in books and magazines including at home (where she was lead photographer for more than 10 years), Garden Design, Luxe Interiors + Design, House Beautiful, Elle Décor, Veranda, AD, Horticulture, Living Etc., British Homes & Gardens, The Wall Street Journal and many more. She is the author of two bestselling and critically acclaimed monographs celebrating the American landscape: In the Garden (Melcher Media/Perseus Books, 2012) and Gardens at First Light (Moffly Media, 2015). Lightkeeper is her first memoir.

Melissa Fraterrigo’s memoir, The Perils of Girlhood is published by the University of Nebraska Press in Fall 2025. She is also the author of the novel Glory Days (University of Nebraska Press), which was named one of “The Best Fiction Books of 2017” by the Chicago Review of Books as well as the short story collection The Longest Pregnancy (Livingston Press). Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies from storySouth and Shenandoah to Notre Dame Review, Sou’wester and The Millions. A graduate of the University of Iowa (BA) and Bowling Green State University (MFA), she teaches creative writing at Purdue University, and is also the founder and executive director of the Lafayette Writers’ Studio in Lafayette, Indiana, where she offers classes on the art and craft of writing. She lives with her husband and two daughters in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World. Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Today Show, Wired, Fox News, and BBC.

Peter Rosch is the author of multiple dark fictions born from the various addictions he chased while living in New York City as an award-winning writer and creative director. He’s many years sober now but remains an addict’s addict. WHAT THE DEAD CAN DO is his debut novel.  Peter grew up in the Southwest, lived in New York for nearly 20 years, and now resides midway between Austin and San Antonio in Wimberley, TX where he works as an author, freelance creative director and copywriter in advertising, and most importantly, full-time dad. Learn more about Peter Rosch at www.peterrosch.com and on IG: @Peterrosch; Facebook: @AuthorPeterRosch; BlueSky: @Peterrosch; and Threads: @PeterRosch.