Alison Kinney (she/her) is an author, teacher, and nonfiction writer focusing on cultural history, the arts, ecology, and social justice. Her newest book, UNITED STATES OF REJECTION: A STORY OF LOVE, HATE & HOPE, will be published by University of Georgia Press on May 1, 2026 (Crux: the Georgia Series in Literary Nonfiction). She’s also the author of AVIDLY READS OPERA, (NYU Press, 2021) and HOOD (Bloomsbury’s “Object Lessons” series, 2016). She’s written online and/or in print for The New Yorker, The Paris Review Daily, Lapham’s Quarterly, Longreads, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Harper’s Magazine, L.A. Review of Books and Avidly, VAN Magazine, Gay Magazine, The Believer, New Republic, The New Inquiry, Hyperallergic, LitHub, and other publications. Five of her essays have been named Notable Essays in The Best American Essays, from 2016 through 2020. Alison has taught nonfiction writing at The New School and at Catapult and is now Assistant Professor of Writing at Eugene Lang College at The New School and in 2026 is a recipient of the Distinguished University Teaching Award. Rachel Knox is a writer born and raised in Tampa Bay. She teaches writing at the University of South Florida and is a bookseller at Tombolo Books in St. Petersburg.