Rob Franklin is a writer of fiction and poetry and a cofounder of Art for Black Lives, a fundraising initiative that supports the Black Trans community. A Kimbilio Fiction Fellow and finalist for the New England Review Emerging Writer Award, his work has appeared in New York Magazine, New England Review, Prairie Schooner, and The Rumpus, among others. He currently teaches writing at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

His debut novel, Great Black Hope, is a national bestseller and has been named a Best Book of the Year so far by Vogue, Amazon Books, and Debutiful. The novel follows a young queer Black man whose arrest exposes the fragile divide between race and class, privilege and vulnerability, offering a powerful portrait of a life shaped by intersecting identities, hidden histories, and the shifting realities of contemporary America.

Silas House is a New York Times-bestselling author whose work is rooted in place, identity, and the evolving story of the American South. He is the author of eight novels, including Southernmost and Lark Ascending, and his first book of poetry, All These Ghosts, was released in 2025. He served as Kentucky’s Poet Laureate from 2023 to 2025. He was the executive producer of the documentary Hillbilly, winner of the LA Film Festival’s Documentary Prize and the Foreign Press Association’s Media Award. In 2023, he served as writer, co-producer, and creative director of the Tyler Childers video “In Your Love,” earning nominations from the Grammys, the Academy of Country Music Awards, the MTV Video Music Awards, and the Country Music Television Awards. He teaches at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky.

Across fiction, poetry, and film, House’s storytelling reflects lives often overlooked and voices shaped by community, land, and change. His work captures an America defined not by a single narrative, but by many lived experiences.

Beth Macy is a Virginia-based journalist and New York Times-bestselling author known for her powerful reporting on outsiders, underdogs, and the communities that shape them. Her books include Factory Man, Dopesick, and Raising Lazarus: Hope, Justice, and the Future of America’s Overdose Crisis. Dopesick was adapted into a Peabody and Emmy Award winning Hulu series, for which Macy served as an executive producer and co-writer.

Her most recent book, Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America, blends personal history with cultural reporting to examine the rural urban divide, political polarization, and the erosion of local journalism. It was longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award and selected as President Barack Obama’s favorite book of the year for 2025. Through intimate storytelling and investigative depth, Macy reveals the intersecting forces that define modern America.

Jamar Nicholas is an award-winning, Philadelphia-based artist and educator who uses visual storytelling to empower young people and spark empathy, creativity, and confidence. His work centers on themes of anti-bullying, healing, kindness, and the idea that everyone can be a hero.

He is the creator of Leon the Extraordinary, a graphic novel series published by Scholastic Graphix that follows Leon and his friends as they navigate friendship, identity, and resilience. Through art and narrative, Nicholas reflects the many voices, experiences, and perspectives that come together to form a richer American story.

Imani Perry is a National Book Award winner and MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellow whose work explores the deeply complex history of Black thought, art, and imagination. Her latest book, Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People, traces the color blue across time and experience, from indigo fields to the music of Louis Armstrong, revealing how art, history, and culture intertwine. Through this layered exploration, Perry captures a portrait of America shaped by memory, creativity, and resilience, reflecting the many perspectives that form our American Kaleidoscope.

We are proud to partner with UNCG’s Weatherspoon Art Museum to bring Dr. Perry to the Greensboro Bound Book Festival. 

Eleanor Spicer Rice is an award-winning author and entomologist whose work invites readers to see the natural world with fresh eyes. With a Ph.D. in entomology, she has spent years studying ants and the essential roles they play in shaping ecosystems.

She is the author of several books, including The Deadliest series, Dr. Eleanor’s Book of Common Ants, Dr. Eleanor’s Book of Common Spiders, and Ants: Workers of the World. Across her writing, Rice reveals how small, often overlooked lives connect to larger systems, reflecting the intricate patterns and perspectives that shape our shared American story.

Jade Song is a writer, filmmaker, and artist whose work moves fluidly across genres and forms. Their debut novel, Chlorine (William Morrow, 2023), was lauded as “visionary and disturbing,” selected as a New York Times Editor’s Choice, awarded the Alex Award and the Writer’s Center First Novel Prize, and translated into Italian, French, Mandarin Chinese, and other languages.

Their second novel, I Love You Don’t Die, will be published in March 2026, and their debut short story collection, Ox Ghost Snake Demon, is forthcoming in early 2027. Across fiction and film, Song’s work explores identity, obsession, and transformation, offering layered portraits of inner lives shaped by culture, desire, and the strange, shifting nature of contemporary experience.