Matt Bell is the author of the novel Appleseed and the craft book Refuse to Be Done. He's also the author of the novels Scrapper and In the House Upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods, as well as the story collection A Tree or a Person or a Wall and the nonfiction book Baldur's Gate II. He is a professor of English at Arizona State University.

A writer of Uruguayan origins, Caro De Robertis (Chair) is the author of six novels, including Cantoras and The Palace of Eros, as well as the work of nonfiction So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color. Their works have been translated into 17 languages and have received numerous awards, including the Golden Poppy Octavia E. Butler Award, two Stonewall Book Awards, and the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature. (Photo credit: Irene Young)

Danielle King is general manager of Left Bank Books in St. Louis, MO, where she previously worked as part-time bookseller, full-time used books buyer, and assistant manager. She is a member of the American Bookseller Association’s Bookseller Advisory Committee, and has served on panels for the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association and American Booksellers Association. (Photo credit: Andrea King, ℅ Left Bank Books)

Akhil Sharma is a novelist and short story writer. His novel Family Life won the International Dublin Literary Award. His stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Paris Review, and Granta. He is the Adele Schiff Professor of the Practice of English at Duke University. (Photo credit: Fergus Ryan)

Diane Wilson is a Dakota writer, educator, and bog steward, enrolled on the Rosebud Reservation. She has published six award-winning books as well as essays in numerous publications. Her novel, The Seed Keeper, won the 2022 Minnesota Book Award and is a selection for the 2026 NEA Big Read. Wilson’s work explores seed sovereignty, cultural recovery, and environmental stewardship. She is currently working on a memoir, Mapping My Way Home: A Story of Love, Loss, and a Bog. (Photo credit: Sarah Whiting)