Patrick Hicks is the author of The Commandant of Lubizec, In the Shadow of Dora, Adoptable, and The Collector of Names, among others. His work has appeared on NPR, The PBS NewsHour, American Life in Poetry, and his first novel was selected for National Reading Group Month. He is the writer in residence at Augustana University as well as a faculty member in the MFA program at Sierra Nevada University. He was recently a finalist for an Emmy and hosts the popular radio show, Poetry from Studio 47.

Jon K. Lauck is the author of several books, including The Lost Region: Toward a Revival of Midwestern History (University of Iowa Press) and From Warm Center to Ragged Edge: The Erosion of Midwestern Regionalism, 1920-1965 (University of Iowa Press). Lauck has worked for several years as a full-time professor, a part-time professor, and a lawyer. He currently serves as an adjunct professor of history and political science at the University of South Dakota and as editor in chief of Middle West Review. He earned his PhD in history from the University of Iowa and his law degree from the University of Minnesota.