Daniel Seifert's writing is published in The New York Times, Consequence, and Gulf Coast. His work received a Special Mention in the Pushcart Prize 2026 anthology, and has twice been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize. He lives in Singapore, and is working on a novel.

Ibrahim Fawzy, is a literary translator, academic and writer from Egypt. He holds an MA in Comparative Literature. His translations, reviews and interviews have appeared or are forthcoming in ArabLit Quarterly, Words Without Borders, The Markaz Review, Modern Poetry in Translation, Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal, Poetry Ireland Review, among others. He is currently an editorial assistant at Rowayat, and podcasts at New Books Network. In 2023, he finished a six-month mentorship with the British National Centre for Writing. He was a recipient of Culture Resource’s 2023 Wijhat grant. His translation of Khalid Al-Nasrallah’s The White Line of Night won the 2023 English PEN Presents. His translation of Rema Hmoud’s “Glass” has been shortlisted for Deep Vellum’s The Best Literary Translations 2024 Anthology.

Mara Karlin, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities, Brookings Institute Fellow and Director for Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, and author of The Inheritance.

Watch this episode here: https://youtu.be/5fsc-6-XpNU

Randy Winston, writer, Director of Fiction at The Black List, host of the podcast, Read the Acknowledgments, and former Creative Director for the Center for Fiction. Find him at RW.

Watch this interview at https://youtu.be/kePiTHOhDLU

Hugh Martin, poet and author of In Country and The Stick Soldiers, editor of War, Literature, and the Arts, professor, and veteran of the conflict in Iraq.

Joe Meno, author of Hairstyles of the Damned, Marval and a Wonder, The Boy Detective Fails, and Book of Extraordinary Tragedies; editor and professor.