Ernst Meister was born in Hagen, Germany in 1911. After the publication of his first book in 1932, he published no poetry for two decades, a silent spell that ultimately gave way to the prolific last third of his life, over the course of which he produced more than sixteen volumes of verse. In 1979, he was posthumously awarded the Georg Büchner Prize.

Graham Foust is the author of several collections of poetry, including Nightingalelessness and Embarrassments. He teaches at the University of Denver.

Samuel Frederick has published several books on German literature and film, most recently The Redemption of Things and The Last Laugh. He teaches at the Pennsylvania State University.

Erik Hadife (b. 1998, @erikhadife) is a Lebanese street photographer and filmmaker whose work explores the quiet strangeness of urban life at night. He has participated in several group exhibitions, with three more upcoming in Athens, Venice, and Tokyo, as well as one solo exhibition, Nightcrawler, which received extensive media coverage (Yung, L’Orient Le Jour, Khamsa 5, Agenda Culturel) and was staged inside an iconic industrial nightlife venue.  Hadife’s most recent work responds to cities that move faster than our ability to notice them. In public spaces shaped by speed, his photographs slow the pace, drawing attention to fleeting interactions and unguarded moments caught in artificial light.