Bathanti is the former Poet Laureate of North Carolina (2012-14) and recipient of the North Carolina Award in Literature. Joseph Bathanti
Bonner’s criticism has appeared in Cleveland Review of Books, Literary Hub, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Senses of Cinema, The Rumpus, and The Sewanee Review, among others. Hannah Bonner
Burrell is the author of TROUBLER (Aldrich Press, 2018) and The Skin of the River (Aldrich Press, 2014). Elijah Burrell
Pritchard Childress lives in the shadow of Roan Mountain in East Tennessee. Catherine Pritchard Childress
Eubanks is a widely published writer, Emmy-winning documentarian, and popular speaker. Georgann Eubanks
Hanson Foster is the author of Mid Drift, a finalist for the Massachusetts Center for the Book Award. Kate Hanson Foster
Ha is a seven-time Pushcart nominee, finalist for the Mary McCarthy Prize, Many Voices Project, Prairie Schooner Book Prize, and The University of New Orleans Press Lab Prize. Khanh Ha
Ian Hall was born and reared in the coalfields of Southeastern Kentucky. He holds an MFA in Poetry from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and he is currently a PhD candidate in English at Florida State University. Ian Hall
Garret Keizer is the author of ten books, including Getting Schooled: The Reeducation of an American Teacher, Privacy, and The Unwanted Sound of Everything We Want: A Book about Noise. Garret Keizer
Kelly has been a columnist and features writer for The Lakeville Journal, a volunteer EMT, and a writer/producer in the Marketing Department of Lifetime Television. Tara Kelly
LeBlond is a retired field biologist. His essays and photographs have appeared in many U.S. and international journals. Richard LeBlond
In addition to We Could’ve Been Happy Here, Lesmeister is the author of Mississippi River Museum (WTAW Press). Keith Pilapil Lesmeister
Magowan lives with her family in San Francisco and teaches in the Department of Literatures and Languages at Mills College. Kim Magowan
Marburg is the author of two previous collections of stories, The Truth About Me and No Diving Allowed. Louise Marburg
Kathleen McNamara’s short stories have appeared in the North American Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Witness, Nimrod International Journal, and elsewhere. Kathleen McNamara
Michel-Cassidy lived for 15 years in voluntary exile in rural Northern New Mexico. She is a writer, critic, teacher, editor, and visual artist. Linda Michel-Cassidy
Jay Neugeboren is the author of 25 books, including more than a half-dozen award-winning books of both fiction and nonfiction, and four collections of prize-winning stories. Jay Neugeboren
Pratt is a Chicago-based writer whose work has appeared in Literary Mama, Motherwell, The Mindful Word, Chicago Parent, Under the Gum Tree, Essay Daily, and The Week, among others. Susannah Q. Pratt
Rinard was an award-winning high school English teacher before becoming a student in the University of South Florida’s MFA program. Andrea Rinard
Ross is the author of three previous story collections: There’s So Much They Haven’t Told You, Shapeshifting, and They Kept Running. Michelle Ross
Schwartz is the author of thirty books of fiction, essays, and poetry, including her novels Leaving Brooklyn, a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, and Rough Strife, a finalist for the National Book Award. Lynne Sharon Schwartz
Singleton has published ten collections of stories, two novels, and one book of writing advice. George Singleton
Sneeden’s poems and essays have appeared in AGNI, The Common, Ecotone, Harvard Review, The Kenyon Review, New England Review, The New Republic, Ploughshares, Slate, Southwest Review, The Surfer’s Journal, and many other magazines. Ralph Sneeden
In 2021, the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame honored Stewart with the inaugural Emerging Writer Award. Darius Stewart
Vollmer is the author of two previous short-story collections—Future Missionaries of America and Gateway to Paradise—as well as two collections of essays—inscriptions for headstones and Permanent Exhibit. Matthew Vollmer
Wickersham is the author of The News from Spain and The Suicide Index, a National Book Award Finalist. Joan Wickersham
Woods taught high school English in East Tennessee for forty-three years. She is a native of Clay County in Eastern Kentucky where her ancestors have lived for over two hundred years. Sylvia Woods
