Jonathan Moody received his MFA from the University of Pittsburgh and his BS in Psychology from Xavier University in Louisiana. He is a Cave Canem graduate fellow whose poetry has appeared in African American Review, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, The Common, Crab Orchard Review, good foot, Tidal Basin Review, Xavier Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, and the anthology Gathering Ground: A Reader Celebrating Cave Canem’s First Decade, among other publications. He is the author of Olympic Butter Gold (2015) and The Doomy Poems (2012). Moody teaches at Pearland High School and lives in Fresno, Texas, with his wife and son.
Amber Tamblyn is the author of DARK SPARKLER, just released by Harper Perennial. She has been nominated for the Emmy, Golden Globe, and Independent Spirit awards. She has published two previous books, FREE STALLION and BANG DITTO. Tamblyn’s work has appeared in Interview, Cosmopolitan, Poets & Writers, and elsewhere. She lives in New York with her husband, comedian David Cross.
Nick Flynn is a poet and memoirist. He is the author of four books of poetry, including MY FEELINGS, THE CAPTAIN ASKS FOR A SHOW OF HANDS, SOME ETHER and BLIND HUBER. ; The Captain Asks For a Show of Hands (2011), Some Ether (2000), His memoir, ANOTHER BULLSHIT NIGHT IN SUCK CITY, won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for the Art of the Memoir. It has been translated into fifteen languages and been made into a film. He has been awarded fellowships from The Guggenheim Foundation, The Library of Congress, The Amy Lowell Trust, and The Fine Arts Work Center. He worked as a “field poet” and as an artistic collaborator on the documentary film “Darwin’s Nightmare,” which won an Academy Award for best feature documentary in 2006.
Poet, activist, playwright and essayist Rachel McKibbens is a New York Foundation for the Arts poetry fellow and author of the critically acclaimed volume of poetry, Pink Elephant (Cypher Books, 2009.) Regarded as one of the most dynamic speakers in the country, McKibbens is a legend within the poetry slam community, noted for her accomplishments both on and off the stage: she is a nine-time National Poetry Slam team member, has appeared on eight NPS final stages, coached the New York louderARTS poetry slam team to three consecutive final stage appearances, is the 2009 Women of the World Poetry Slam champion and the 2011 National Underground Poetry Slam individual champion. For four years McKibbens taught poetry through the Healing Arts Program at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan and continues to teach poetry and creative writing and give lectures across the country as an advocate for mental health awareness, gender-equality and victims of violence and domestic abuse.