Percival Everett is a Distinguished Professor of English at USC. His latest novel, James, won the 2024 Kirkus Prize and the National Book Award for fiction. His other titles include Dr. No, The Trees, Telephone, So Much Blue and I Am Not Sidney Poitier. American Fiction, the feature film based on his novel Erasure, was released in 2023 and was awarded an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He resides in Los Angeles.

Liz Moore is a writer of fiction and creative nonfiction. After a brief time as a musician in NYC, Moore shifted her focus to writing. Her first novel was The Words of Every Song, followed by Heft which landed on NPR’s Best of 2012 list. Moore’s fourth novel, Long Bright River was published in 2020 and has become both a New York Times and international best seller. The God of the Woods was published in 2024, debuted and has remained on the best seller list for over 29 weeks. Moore is Director of the Creative Writing MFA at Temple University.

Natasha Alford is an award-winning journalist, host, author and media executive recognized for harnessing the power of storytelling to inspire and educate. With degrees from Harvard University and Northwestern University, Alford was born in Syracuse, NY. In 2024, she published her critically acclaimed memoir, American Negra, which earned an International Latino Book Award for Best First Book. The book explores identity, resilience and the complexities of Black womanhood in America.

Jodi Kantor is a bestselling author and prize winning investigative reporter. In 2017, Kantor and Megan Twohey broke the story of sexual allegations against Hollywood producer, Harvey Weinstein. They then wrote She Said about the investigation and the impact of even a small number of truth-tellers. Kantor also wrote The Obamas a behind the scenes look at the President and first lady. Kantor resides in Brooklyn.

TJ Klune is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling, Lambda Literary Award-winning author. Klune has written 37 books of fantasy and romantic fiction featuring gay and LGBTQ+ characters. Popular titles include The House in the Cerulean Sea, Somewhere Beyond the Sea, Under the Whispering Door, the Green Creek Series and his latest work The Bones Beneath my Skin.