Role: Host

Dhonielle Clayton is a New York Times bestselling author of The Conjureverse series, The Belles series, Shattered Midnight, co-author of Blackout, Whiteout, The Rumor Game, and of the Tiny Pretty Things duology, a Netflix original series. She hails from the Washington, D.C. suburbs on the Maryland side. She taught secondary school for several years, and is a former elementary and middle school librarian. She is COO of the non-profit We Need Diverse Books. She is the President and founder of Cake Creative and Electric Postcard Entertainment, IP story companies creating diverse books for all ages. She’s an avid traveller, and always on the hunt for magic and mischief.

Wajahat Ali is a Daily Beast columnist, public speaker, recovering attorney, and tired dad of three cute kids. He is the author of the book, Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on Becoming American and the play, The Domestic Crusaders.

Natasha Lyonne started her film career in Pee-wee’s Playhouse which led to roles in more than 50 films including But I’m a Cheerleader and Slums of Beverly Hills. She stars as a series regular in Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black, a role for which she received an Emmy nomination. Lyonne co-created the upcoming Netflix series Russian Doll with Amy Poehler. She wrote and directed for the series which stars her as Nadia, a young woman on a journey as the guest of honor at a seemingly inescapable party one night in New York City. Last year, Natasha made her directorial debut with the Kenzo film Cabiria, Charity, Chastity. She also wrote the screenplay for the film which stars Maya Rudolph, Fred Armisen, and Leslie Odom Jr.,among others. Next year she will be seen alongside Lucas Hedges and FKA Twigs in Alma Harel and Shia Labouef’s Honey Boy.

Nick Offerman is an actor, writer, and woodworker best known for his role as Ron Swanson on NBC’s hit comedy Parks and Recreation. Most recently, he reunited with his Parks and Recreation co-star Amy Poehler as a co-host and executive producer for NBC’s Making It, an unscripted competition series celebrating craftiness and creativity. Offerman is currently in production on the FX tech thriller series Devs, starring opposite Sonoya Mizuno. The show, created by Alex Garland, will be released next year. Earlier this year, he starred alongside Kiersey Clemons in Brett Haley’s Hearts Beat Loud. Offerman is a four-time New York Times–bestselling author. He released his fourth book, The Greatest Love Story Ever Told, this October with his wife Megan Mullally.

Amanda Stern is the author of the critically acclaimed novel, The Long Haul. She’s been published in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The Believer, Filmmaker, Paste, Spinning Jenny, Swink, Fivechapters.com among many others. In 2003 she founded the popular, Happy Ending Music and Reading Series, in the Chinatown bar, Happy Ending. It ran for five years and was widely considered the most best authors’ series in the city. Throughout its five year run, the event was praised regularly by New York Magazine, Time Out New York, The Village Voice, NY Press and The New Yorker, The Village Voice and NY Press. The New York Times Magazine called Stern a “New Bohemian,” who is “helping to keep downtown, New York alive.” In January 2009, The famed series moved to Joe’s Pub to become that venue’s first-ever ongoing literary series. Stern has held residencies at Yaddo and MacDowell and is currently working on her next novel.

Sam Lipsyte’s most recent novel, Home Land, was a New York Times Notable Book for 2005 and winner of the Believer Book Award. He is also the author of The Subject Steve and Venus Drive. His work has appeared in The Quarterly, Noon, Open City, N+1, Slate, McSweeney’s, Esquire, Bookforum, and Playboy, among other places. He teaches at Columbia University’s School of the Arts.