John Allman's seventh collection of poetry, Lowcountry, was published in fall 2007 by New Directions. His first, Walking Four Ways in the Wind, was published in the Princeton Series of Contemporary Poets (Princeton University Press 1979). Subsequent poetry books include Clio’s Children (1985), Scenarios for a Mixed Landscape (1986), Curve Away from Stillness: Science Poems (1989) and Loew’s Triboro (2004) (declared a Best Book of 2004 in The Bloomsbury Review), all published by New Directions, which also published Allman's first fiction collection, Descending Fire & Other Stories (1994).

William Heyen is Professor of English/Poet in Residence Emeritus at SUNY Brockport, his undergraduate alma mater. A former Senior Fulbright Lecturer in American Literature in Germany, he has won NEA, Guggenheim, American Academy & Institute of Arts & Letters, and other fellowships and awards.

Shara McCallum has published two books of poems: Song of Thieves (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2003) and The Water Between Us (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1999, winner of the 1998 Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize). Her poems appear in literary journals in the US and abroad, have been reprinted in over

Kathryn Stripling Byer has published five books of poetry including Wildwood Flower, (LSU , 1992, Lamont Selection of the Academy of American Poets), Catching Light, (LSU, 2001, SIBA BOOK of the Year in Poetry) and Coming to Rest (LSU, 2006). She is the 2007 recipient of the Hanes Award in Poetry from the Fellowship of Southern Writers.