Susan Orlean is an American journalist, television writer, and bestselling author of The Orchid Thief and The Library Book. She has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1992, and has contributed articles to many magazines including Vogue, Rolling Stone, Esquire, and Outside. In 2021, Orlean joined the writing team of HBO comedy series How To with John Wilson.
World Relief is an Evangelical Christian humanitarian nongovernmental organization, the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals and a leading refugee resettlement agency.
Jeanne Marie Laskas is an American writer, journalist, and professor.
Jane Elizabeth Randall is an American former fashion model from Baltimore, best known for her participation in the fifteenth cycle of America's Next Top Model where she tied for 3rd overall. She is now a New Jersey politics commentator.
Nova Ren Suma is an American #1 New York Times best selling author of young adult novels. Her best-known work is The Walls Around Us. Her novels have twice been finalists for the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult from Mystery Writers of America.
Danyel SmithWilson is an American magazine editor, journalist, and novelist. Smith is the former and first African-American editor of Billboard and Vibe magazine, respectively. She is author of two novels and a history of African-American women in pop music.
Emma Cline is an American writer and novelist, originally from California. She published her first novel, The Girls, in 2016, to positive reviews. The book was shortlisted for the John Leonard Award from the National Book Critics Circle and the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize. Her second novel, The Guest, was published in 2023. Her stories have been published in The New Yorker, Tin House, Granta, and The Paris Review. In 2017, Cline was named one of Granta's Best of Young American Novelists, and Forbes named her one of their "30 Under 30 in Media.” She is a recipient of the Plimpton Prize.
Alanna Lynn Arrington is an American model from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She has been on the cover of Maxim and Elle U.K. She is a model for Victoria’s Secret.
Brit Bennett is an American writer based in Los Angeles. Her debut novel The Mothers (2016) was a New York Times best-seller. Her second novel, The Vanishing Half (2020), was also a New York Times best-seller and it was chosen as a Good Morning America Book Club selection. The Vanishing Half was selected as one of The New York Times ten best books of 2020 and shortlisted for the 2021 Women's Prize for Fiction.
Dwight "D." or "Doc" Watkins is an author, HBO writer, and professor at The University of Baltimore.
Elizabeth Rusch is an American children's author and magazine writer. Rusch has written about numerous nonfiction subjects ranging from volcanology to the life of Maria Anna Mozart. Rusch has also written several works of fiction including the picture book A Day with No Crayons and the graphic novel Muddy Max: The Mystery of Marsh Creek. Her books have won numerous awards and accolades including: The Oregon Spirit Award, Oregon Book Award, NSTA Outstanding Science Tradebook, Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year, Kirkus Best Book of the Year, Gelett Burgess Award for Biography, AAAS Best Book of the Year, School Library Journal Best Book of Year, New York Public Library Best Book of the Year, Best STEM Trade Book (NSTA-CBC), Texas Topaz Nonfiction Gem. She attended Duke University. Rusch has written more than 15 books for children and more than one hundred articles for young people and adults.
Elizabeth Acevedo is a Dominican-American poet and author. In September 2022, the Poetry Foundation named her the year's Young People's Poet Laureate.
Rebecca Roanhorse is an American science fiction and fantasy writer from New Mexico. She has written short stories and science fiction novels featuring Navajo characters. Her work has received Hugo and Nebula awards, among others.
Esmé Weijun Wang is an American writer. She is the author of The Border of Paradise (2016) and The Collected Schizophrenias (2019). She is the recipient of a Whiting Award and in 2017, Granta Magazine named her to its decennial list of the Best of Young American Novelists.
Emma Frances Chamberlain is an American social media personality, YouTuber, podcaster, businesswoman and model. She won the 2018 Streamy Award for Breakout Creator. In 2019, Time magazine included her on its Time 100 Next list, and its list of The 25 Most Influential People On The Internet, writing that "Chamberlain pioneered an approach to vlogging that shook up YouTube's unofficial style guide."
Joyful Clemantine Wamariya is a Rwandan-American author, speaker, and human rights advocate.
Evette Dionne is an American culture writer. Her young adult debut Lifting As We Climb (Viking) was longlisted for the 2020 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. Dionne was editor-in-chief of Bitch from 2018 until 2021.
Tanya Lee Stone is an American author of children's and young adult books. She writes narrative nonfiction for middle-grade students and young adults, as well as nonfiction picture books. Her stories often center women and people of color.
Akata Warrior is a 2017 young adult fantasy novel by Nigerian American writer Nnedi Okorafor. It is a sequel to Akata Witch and the second book in The Nsibidi Scripts series. It won the inaugural Lodestar Award in 2018 as well as the 2018 Locus Award for Best Young Adult Novel.
The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story About War and What Comes After is a memoir by Clemantine Wamariya, written alongside Elizabeth Weil, published April 24, 2018 by Doubleday Canada. The memoir follows Wamariya's experience as a childhood refugee from Rwanda. The book was a New York Times best seller, was critically acclaimed, and received various accolades.
