Emily Katz Anhalt is Professor of Classics at Sarah Lawrence College. Her most recent book is Enraged: Why Violent Times Need Ancient Greek Myths, which was selected as one of the Times Literary Supplement’s Best Books of 2017.

Jung Yun was born in Seoul, South Korea and grew up in Fargo, North Dakota. Her debut novel, Shelter was long-listed for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, a finalist for the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award, and a semi-finalist for Good Reads’ Best Fiction Book of 2016.

Barry Strauss is a professor of history and classics at Cornell University, The Corliss Page Dean Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and a leading expert on ancient military history.

Mark Mahoney is the Editorial Page Editor for The Daily Gazette in Schenectady, N.Y., where he writes daily editorials on state and local issues, as well as organizes and oversees meetings of the newspaper’s editorial board, writes the newspaper’s political endorsements, and authors a nationally recognized blog about open government issues called, “Your Right to Know.”

Meg Wolitzer is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous novels, including The Interestings, The Wife, and The Female Persuasion.

Gregory Maguire is the New York Times bestselling author of A Wild Winter Swan; Hiddensee; After Alice;Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister; Lost; Mirror Mirror; and The Wicked Years, a series that includes Wicked—the beloved classic that is the basis for the blockbuster Tony Award–winning Broadway musical of the same name—Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men, and Out of Oz.

Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa was born in Puerto Rico and raised in New York City. She is a product of the Puerto Rican communities on the island and in the South Bronx. As a child she was sent to live with her grandparents in Puerto Rico where she was introduced to the culture of rural Puerto Rico, including the storytelling that came naturally to the women in her family, especially the older women.