James Sacré is a French poet who has published more than one hundred titles, most recently Some objects stay with us: (or the other way round) (Presses Universitaires de Rouen et du Havre, 2025), translated by David Ball. Sacré has been awarded several prizes, including the 2025 Prix Goncourt for Poetry. He is a retired professor and lives in Montpellier, France.

Nathalie Handal is described as a “contemporary Orpheus.” She has lived in four continents, is the author of 10 award winning books, translated into over 15 languages, including Life in a Country Album, winner of the Palestine Book Award; the flash collection The Republics, lauded as “one of the most inventive books by one of today’s most diverse writers,” and winner of the Virginia Faulkner Award for Excellence in Writing and the Arab American Book Award. Handal is the recipient of awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, PEN Foundation, Lannan Foundation, Fondazione di Venezia, Centro Andaluz de las Letras, Africa Institute, and is the winner of the Alejo Zuloaga Order in Literature, among others. She is Professor of Literature and Creative Writing at New York University-AD, and writes the literary travel column, “The City and the Writer” for Words without Borders.

Sarah D’Ambrosio (b. 1989, Brooklyn, NY) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. In addition to her studies at The Mount Gretna School of Art, she holds a BFA from Brooklyn College and an MFA from the University of New Hampshire. D’Ambrosio has previously exhibited at The Painting Center, The Front in New Orleans, LA, NYSS Projects in Brooklyn, NY, IU Press in Bloomington, IN, and the University of Tennessee. She has most recently had her debut solo exhibition with March Gallery in New York City.