Month: May 2020

Margo Orlando Littell is the author of the novels The Distance from Four Points and Each Vagabond by Name, which won the University of New Orleans Publishing Lab Prize and an IPPY Awards Gold Medal, was longlisted for the 2017 Tournament of Books, and was named one of fifteen great Appalachian novels by Bustle. Originally from southwestern Pennsylvania, she now lives in New Jersey.

Armed with a PhD in history, a well-thumbed deck of library cards, and a large bump of curiosity, author, speaker, and historian, Pamela D. Toler translates history for a popular audience. She goes beyond the familiar boundaries of American history to tell stories from other parts of the world as well as history from the other side of the battlefield, the gender line, or the color bar. Toler is the author of eight books of popular history for children and adults, including Women Warriors: An Unexpected History and the forthcoming Sigrid Schultz of the Chicago Tribune: An American Reporter in Nazi Germany. Her work has appeared in Aramco World, Calliope, History Channel Magazine, MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, The Washington Post and Time.com.

Amy Poeppel is the author of SMALL ADMISSIONS and LIMELIGHT. Her third novel, MUSICAL CHAIRS, will be out this July 2020 with Emily Bestler Books/Simon and Schuster. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Rumpus (Funny Women), Belladonna Comedy, and Working Mother. She lives in New York City and Frankfurt, Germany.

Colleen Oakley is the critically acclaimed author of Before I Go, Close Enough to Touch, You Were There Too and the forthcoming The Invisible Husband of Frick Island (May 2021). Colleen’s novels have been translated into 21 languages, optioned for film and longlisted for the Southern Book Prize twice. A former magazine editor for Marie Claire and Women’s Health & Fitness, Colleen’s articles and essays have been featured in The New York Times, Ladies’ Home Journal, Women’s Health, Redbook, Parade, Woman’s Day, Fitness, Health, Marie Claire and Martha Stewart Weddings. A proud graduate of the University of Georgia’s school of journalism, Colleen currently lives in Atlanta with her husband, four kids, and the world’s biggest lapdog, Bailey.

Mary Pauline Lowry is the author of the novel The Roxy Letter and is a regular contributor to O Magazine. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The Millions, and other publications.

Vanessa Hua is a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and the author of A River of Stars and Deceit and Other Possibilities. A National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellow, she has also received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, and a Steinbeck Fellowship in Creative Writing, as well as awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Asian American Journalists Association, among others. She teaches at the Writers’ Grotto, Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers, and elsewhere.

Julia Claiborne Johnson grew up on a farm in Tennessee, and as so often happens, went from there to working in magazines in New York City. After marrying a tv-comedy-writer, she moved to Los Angeles and had two children. Her first novel, Be Frank with Me, a national bestseller, was one of six finalists for the American Booksellers Association’s Best Debut of 2017. The audiobook, performed by Tavia Gilbert, won an Audie Award for Best Female Narrator. Her second novel comes out in January from Custom House/Harper Collins.