| Julie Buntin teaches creative writing at the University of Michigan. Her debut novel, Marlena, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize, translated into ten languages, and named a best book of the year by over a dozen outlets, including the Washington Post, NPR, and Kirkus Reviews. Her novel-in-progress won the Ellen Levine Fund for Writers Award, and her fiction and essays have appeared in the Atlantic, Vogue, the New York Times Book Review, Guernica, and elsewhere. She has received fellowships from Bread Loaf and the MacDowell Colony. Along with Rebecca Dinerstein Knight, she’s the editor of Notes to New Mothers, a collection of dispatches from postpartum life forthcoming from Norton. Julie is based in Ann Arbor, MI.
Catherine Campbell (they/them) is a novelist and essayist whose work appears inthe New York Times, The Millions,Iowa Review, Kenyon Review, Writer's Digest, McSweeney's, Travel + Leisure, and elsewhere. They have received an NC Arts Council Artist Grant, served as a graduate writing professor, and have spoken at organizations such as AWP, UNC Asheville, NC Writers Network, and Flatiron Writers Room. Catherine owns a marketing advisory, One For The Books, where they consult for sustainable, equitable consumer brands across the U.S. Catherine is based in Asheville, NC.
Kristine Leja is the co-founder and principal ofKLP Impact. As a consultant, coach, and strategist, she brings to her work a passion for supporting people and organizations to create cultures that are grounded in empathy, social justice principles and practices, shared leadership, and democratized ways of being. Previously, she served as the executive director of Summer Search Bay Area and was the interim CEO and chief development officer for Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco. Kris is a published poet and serves as an editor at Sidebrow Books, a San Francisco- and Portland-based independent press. Originally from Chicago, she currently lives in San Francisco, CA with her partner and cat.
Courtney Maum is the author of five books, including the groundbreaking publishing guide that Vanity Fair recently named one of the ten best books for writers, Before and After the Book Deal and the memoir The Year of Horses, chosen by the Today Show as their top read for mental health awareness. A writing coach, director of the writing workshop “Turning Points,” and educator, Courtney's mission is to help people hold on to the joy of art-making in a culture obsessed with turning artists into brands. Passionate about literary citizenship, in addition to The Rumpus, Courtney also sits on advisory council of the Authors Guild and runs a bestselling Substack on publishing conundrums. Courtney is based in Litchfield County, CT.
Marisa Siegel is the author of the chapbook Fixed Stars (Burrow Press, 2022), and her essay “Inherited Anger” appears in the award-winning anthology Burn It Down (Seal Press, 2019). She is senior acquiring editor for trade at Northwestern University Press and editor-at-large for The Rumpus. Marisa is based in Chicago, IL.
Kelly Sundberg's memoir, Goodbye, Sweet Girl, was published by HarperCollins in 2018. Her essay "It Will Look Like a Sunset" was published in Guernica and later selected by Ariel Levy for inclusion in Best American Essays 2015. Other essays have been published in Alaska Quarterly Review, Denver Quarterly, Gulf Coast, The Rumpus, the New York Times, and many other literary and trade magazines. She has been the recipient of fellowships and grants from Ohio Arts Council, Vermont Studio Center, Dickinson House, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Her essay collection The Answer is in the Wound is forthcoming from Roxane Gay Books, an imprint of Grove Atlantic, in 2025. Kelly writes and edits in Columbus, OH.
Cindy Tran is the author of Sonnet Crownfor NYC (2021), winner of the Thornwillow Patrons’ Prize, and is the creator of a short film by the same name. A recipient of fellowships from NYSCA/NYFA, the Poetry Project, and the Loft Literary Center, her work has been presented at The Shed, Lincoln Center, and the BBC. Cindy’s poems appear in the Southern Review, Copper Nickel, and elsewhere. Cindy is based in New York, NY.
Mark Wallace is a past executive director of the Writers Grotto in San Francisco, and a contributing editor at Alta Journal. His essays and journalism have appeared in The Rumpus, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the New York Times Magazine, the New Yorker, and many other places. Mark is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA.
Reema Zaman is a writer, speaker, book coach, and teacher. She is the author of the memoir I Am Yours and the forthcoming novel Woman in Flight. Her essays have been published in The Rumpus, Vogue, The Guardian, Salon, and several others. She was an Oregon Literary Arts Fellow in 2018. In her ten years (and counting!) of being a professional writer, what she loves most is creating authentic, lasting relationships with her readers and fellow authors, and she is devoted to amplifying underrepresented voices and stories. Born in Bangladesh and raised in Thailand, she now lives in Los Angeles, CA with her chihuahua-daughter, Fia the Fierce. |
