Brenda Hillman, a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets from 2016 to 2022, has written, edited, and cotranslated more than two dozen books, most recently, In a Few Minutes Before Later. She is a Professor Emerita at St. Mary's College of California and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Brian Teare is Associate Professor of Poetry at the University of Virginia and author of seven books of poetry, most recently Poem Bitten by a Man.