Daniel Borzutzky

grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, of Chilean heritage. He has published a collection of fiction, Arbitrary Tales(2005), a poetry chapbook,Failure in the Imagination(2007), and two full-length volumes of poetry, The Ecstasy of Capitulation(2007), and The Book of Interfering Bodies (2011). 

Don De Grazia

is the author of the critically acclaimed novel, American Skin (Scribner/Jonathan Cape). His work has appeared in The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Reader, Newcity, TriQuarterly, The Outlaw Bible of American Literature, The Italian American Reader, Rumpus, The Great Lakes Review, Make Magazine, and other publications. He is also a screenwriter in the Writers Guild of America (east) and co-founder/co-host of Come Home Chicago, a live event series dedicated to celebrating the Chicago storytelling tradition in all its forms.

Fred Sasaki

is an author and the Art Director for Poetry.

Joel Craig

lives and works in Chicago, IL and is the author of the poetry collection The White House (Green Lantern Press, 2012). He co-founded and curates the Danny’s Reading Series, and is the poetry editor for MAKE: A Literary Magazine.

Kathleen Rooney

is a founding editor of Rose Metal Press, a nonprofit publisher of literary work in hybrid genres, and a founding member of Poems While You Wait, a three-person team of poets and their typewriters who compose commissioned poetry on demand. A winner of the Ruth Lilly Fellowship from Poetry magazine and the Gatewood Prize from Switchback Books, she is the author of six books of poetry and nonfiction. She lives in Chicago.

Kirsten Leenaars

Kirsten Leenaars’ practice is a hybrid of social practice, video and photo based work. In her practice Leenaars engages with specific people and communities. Looking at the nature of documentary practices, reality tv and narrative constructs she examines how our relationships with other people are shaped through these mediations and representations. She has amongst others shows and developed work for the Museum Contemporary Art, HPAC, Glass Curtain Gallery, 6018North in Chicago, Kunstbunker (Munchen), Witte de With Center for contemporary Art (Rotterdam). Leenaars is an Assistant Professor at the Contemporary Practices department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Valerie Mejer

born in Mexico City, is a poet and painter. For her book De Elefante a Elefante, she was awarded the Gerardo Diego International Award for Literary Research by the Spanish Government. She is the author of six books of poetry and five translations. Forthcoming works include an anthology of her poems, Rain of the Future (Action Books, 2013), and a long poem, This Blue Novel (2014).

Verónica Gerber Bicecci

(Mexico City, 1981). Visual artist who writes. She makes pieces that are texts and texts that are pieces. Her projects explore the infinitesimal trails of things that can’t be heard nor seen. Her book Mudanza [Moving Out] (2010, Ed. Auieo – Taller Ditoria) narrates the transformation of five writers into visual artists. She is a fellow in the Young Creators FONCA Program. In November, 2013, she received the International Aura Estrada Prize for Literature. To learn more about her work: veronicagerberbicecci.net.

Irvine Welsh

(born Edinburgh, Scotland 1958) is the author of thirteen books of fiction, including Trainspotting and, most recently, The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins. He lives with his wife in Chicago.

Adam Burke, comedian & host

Originally from the UK, Adam Burke began performing stand-up after writing a piece on comedy for a Chicago magazine. Before long, Burke became a fixture at Midwestern shows and showcases. His absurdist, verbose comedy is long on metaphor and analogy and short on common sense. He has appeared on Doug Loves Movies, The Benson Interruption, the Bob and Tom show, WGN 720 AM radio, Put Your Hands Together, and many more podcasts and shows. Adam has appeared at the Bridgetown Comedy Festival in Portland OR, as part of the Just for Laughs Chicago festival for four years running, and at the local stage of Funny Or Die's Oddball Comedy Festival. In addition, he has opened for a wide variety of comedians including Marc Maron, Jeff Ross, Hannibal Burress, Hari Kondabolu, Maria Bamford, Michael Ian Black, Kumail Nanjiani, John Oliver, Tracy Morgan, Aziz Ansari, and many more. Burke released his debut album Universal Squirrel Theory on A Special Thing Records in 2012. He was voted Best Standup in Chicago by readers of the Chicago Reader in 2014.