Robert Coover (1932-2024) was born in Charles City, Iowa. He attended Indiana University and, after a four-year stint in the US Navy, the University of Chicago. For more than thirty years, he taught literature and creative writing at Brown University. He was the author of many novels and story collections-among others The Origin of the Brunists (forthcoming from NYRB Classics), Pricksongs and Descants, and The Public Burning.

Ben Marcus is the author of five books of fiction: Notes from the Fog, The Flame Alphabet, Leaving the Sea, Notable American Women, and The Age of Wire and String. He lives in New York City.