Leanne Shapton is an art director, illustrator, artist, and publisher based in NewYork. She has contributed work to The New York Times, Harper’s, The New Yorker, GQ, Jane, Flaunt, and Seventeen, among others. She runs J&L Books with the photographer Jason Fulford. more

Cathleen Schine is the author of The Love Letter and Rameau's Niece, among other novels. She has contributed to The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine, and The New York Times Book Review. more

Susan Coll is the author of karlmarx.com and Rockville Pike. She lives outside of Washington, D.C., with her husband, the author and journalist Steve Coll, and their three children. more

Tim Willocks is a novelist and filmmaker. He is the author of the novels Bad City Blues, Green River Rising, and Blood-Stained Kings. He lives in Ireland. more

Elizabeth Marshall Thomas is the author of seven books, nonfiction and fiction —among them The Hidden Life of Dogs, The Harmless People, and Reindeer Moon. She’s written for The New Yorker, National Geographic, and The Atlantic, and lives in New Hampshire. more

Dr. Rudy Crew is the superintendent of Miami Dade County public schools, the fourth-largest school system in the country. He was formerly the chancellor of New York public schools, the nation’s largest system. He has been superintendent or deputy superintendent in Tacoma,... more

Thomas Hine writes on history, culture, and design. He is the author of five books, including Populuxe. From 1973 until 1996, he was the architecture and design critic for The Philadelphia Inquirer, where he wrote a weekly column called “Surroundings.” He has worked as an... more

John Leake was born in Dallas, Texas, and earned his MA in philosophy at Boston University. After winning a fellowship at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, he lived there on and off for six years, working as a translator and editor. This is his first book. more

Jonathan Rabb is the author of three previous novels: Rosa, The Overseer, and The Book of Q. He lives in New York with his wife and two children. more

Margaret Leroy was born in England, was born in England and studied music at Oxford. She has worked as a music therapist, teacher, and psychiatric social worker. She is the author of four previous novels. more

Thomas Hine writes on design, culture, and history. He is the author of five books, including Populuxe. That title, coined by Hine to describe the styles and enthusiasms of post–World War II America, has entered the American idiom and is now included in the American... more