Alexandra Horowitz observes dogs for a living. Her research began over two decades ago, studying dogs at play, and continues today at her Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College.

Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist who was a foreign correspondent and bureau chief in the Middle East and the Balkans for fifteen years for The New York Times. He previously worked overseas for The Dallas Morning News, The Christian Science Monitor, and NPR.

Gregory Galloway is the author of the novels The 39 Deaths of Adam Strand and the Alex Award-winning As Simple As Snow.

Elizabeth Everett lives in upstate New York with her family. She likes going for long walks or (very) short runs to nearby sites that figure prominently in the history of civil rights and women’s suffrage.

Jennifer Dugan is a geek and a romantic who writes the kinds of stories she wishes she’d had growing up. She is the author of the novels Melt With You, Some Girls Do, Verona Comics, and Hot Dog Girl, which was called “a great, fizzy rom-com” by Entertainment Weekly and “one of the best reads of the year, hands down” by Paste magazine.

Allyson Dahlin grew up on a farm, raised by a Francophile father who influenced her fascination with the real Marie and Louis.

Elizabeth Brundage is the author of four previous novels, including All Things Cease to Appear, which was a Wall Street Journal best mystery of 2016, and was the basis for the Netflix film Things Heard and Seen.

Kathryn Bertine is an author, athlete, activist and documentary filmmaker. During her pro career in cycling, she was a three-time Caribbean Champion, six-time national champion of St. Kitts and Nevis (SKN) and raced five years on the pro circuit with four UCI domestic and World Tour teams Colavita, Wiggle-Honda, BMW and Cylance Pro Cycling. She retired from racing in 2017 but remains active in advancing equity for women’s pro cycling.

Kalynn Bayron is the bestselling author of Cinderella Is Dead, This Poison Heart, and This Wicked Fate, and is a classically trained vocalist.

Peter Balakian is the author of eight books of poems including Ozone Journal, which won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for poetry, and Ziggurat, both published by the University of Chicago Press.