Stephen Kuusisto, who has been blind since birth, is the author of Eavesdropping: A Memoir of Blindness and Listening and the acclaimed memoir Planet of the Blind, a New York Times “Notable Book of the Year”. He has also published two books of poems, Only Bread, Only Light and Letters to Borges. Recognized by the New York Times as “a powerful writer with a musical ear for language and a gift for emotional candor,” Steve has made numerous appearances on programs including The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dateline NBC, National Public Radio and the BBC. His most recent memoir is Have Dog, Will Travel, and his newest book of poems was published in fall 2020 by Tiger Bark Press.

Ona Gritz is an award winning poet, essayist, children’s author, and creative writing instructor. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Utne Reader, Ploughshares, Brevity, and River Teeth, and has been widely anthologized. Recent honors include two Notable mentions in Best American Essays, a Best Life Story in Salon, and a winning entry in The Poetry Archive Now: Wordview 2020 project.

Laurie Clements Lambeth grew up in California. After being diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis at 17, she began to write poetry that investigates the individual body’s contour in context with the external world. This award-winning poet holds a BA from Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, and an MFA and PhD from the University of Houston’s creative writing program. Her poetry has appeared in numerous publications. Former Reviews Editor for Disability Studies Quarterly, she is currently at work on her next poetry collection, Bright Pane, as well as a memoir.

Daniel Simpson is the author of the poetry collection School for the Blind, published in 2014 by Poets Wear Prada. His work has appeared in Prairie Schooner, The Cortland Review, Beauty Is A Verb: The New Poetry of Disability, The New York Times, and elsewhere. The recipient of a Fellowship in Literature from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, he served, along with his wife Ona Gritz, as Poetry Editor for Referential Magazine, an online literary journal, from 2013 to 2016. He also co-authored, with Ona Gritz, the poetry collection Border Songs, a Conversation in Poems.

Georgia A. Popoff is a writer, editor, arts-in-education specialist, and project coordinator for the YMCA of Central NY’s Writers Voice, where she teaches poetry and creative nonfiction. Her fourth collection of poetry, Psychometry, was released in late 2019 by Tiger Bark Press, and was a finalist for Utica College’s Eugene Nassar Poetry Prize and the CNY Book Award for Poetry. Georgia was recently named Poet Laureate of Onondaga County for a 2-year term of service and was appointed editor for the University of Michigan Press book series on contemporary poets, Under Discussion, in 2022.