Tayari Jones is the author of four novels, most recently An American Marriage. Published in 2018, An American Marriage is an Oprah’s Book Club Selection and also appeared on Barack Obama’s summer reading list as well as his year-end roundup. The novel was awarded the Women’s Prize for Fiction (formerly known as the Orange Prize), Aspen Words Prize and an NAACP Image Award. It has been published in two dozen countries. Jones, a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, has also been a recipient of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, United States Artist Fellowship, NEA Fellowship, and Radcliffe Institute Bunting Fellowship. Her third novel, Silver Sparrow, was added to the NEA Big Read Library of classics in 2016.

Jones is a graduate of Spelman College, University of Iowa, and Arizona State University. She is an Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University and the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Creative Writing at Emory University.

Gabrielle Union is an actress, executive producer, activist, bestselling author, and most recently, a Time 100 cover honoree. Union starred opposite Jessica Alba on L.A.’s Finest, a Charter Spectrum original in which she was also an executive producer through her production shingle, I’ll Have Another Productions. The show received a 13-episode straight-to-season order for season one, and season two premiered on September 9, 2020. FOX picked up season one as part of their fall 2020 slate and it premiered on that network on September 21, 2020. Union formed I’ll Have Another in 2018 with the goal of telling stories centered on marginalized communities with their specific points of view in an authentic manner. In 2020, Union released her first children’s book Welcome to the Party, which was inspired by the birth of her daughter.

Union has a strong eye for business; she is a co-founder of the organic snack foods company Bitsy’s, and in August 2020, Union relaunched her hair care brand Flawless for women with natural hair to rave reviews. She is also the face of NY&Co’s 7th Avenue collection and has her own exclusive namesake collection through the brand. Her book We’re Going To Need More Wine: Stories That Are Funny, Complicated and True was released in 2017 and instantly became a New York Times best seller. Union serves as a leader and advocate for inclusion in the entertainment industry. She is also a champion of breast health and combating sexual violence.