John Freeman is the American editor of Granta magazine. A former president of the National Book Critics Circle, his criticism has appeared in publications around the world. Freeman's book The Tyranny of Email: The Four-Thousand-Year Journey to Your Inbox is due out in October.

David Benioff adapted his first novel, The 25th Hour, into the feature film directed by Spike Lee. With many other screenplays to his credit, he is also the writer of the forthcoming films Brothers and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Benioff's latest novel is City of Thieves.

Achy Obejas is the author of the award-winning novel Days of Awe and the newly released Ruins. She is editor of the crime-fiction anthology Havana Noir and the Sor Juana Writer in Residence at DePaul University. Born in Havana, she continues to spend extended time there.

Susan Straight's book A Million Nightingales was nominated for a Los Angeles Times 2007 Book Prize in Fiction. Her short story in the anthology Los Angeles Noir was the winner of a 2008 Edgar Award. Highwire Moon was a National Book Award finalist.