Daniel Brook (he/him) is a journalist and author whose writing has appeared in Harper’s, the New York Times Magazine, and The Nation. His second book, A History of Future Cities, was longlisted for the Lionel Gelber Prize and selected as one of the ten favorite books of the year by the Washington Post. His newest…

Christopher Louis Romaguera is a Cuban-American writer who lives in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was born in Hialeah, Florida, and graduated from Florida International University in Miami, Florida. He has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of New Orleans. Romaguera has been published in Pleiades, Passages North, Catapult, Latino Book Review, and other…

Jarret Lofstead is an independent filmmaker based in New Orleans, Louisiana. As director/producer of The Bend Media, he has led two feature documentaries: George Dureau, New Orleans Artist (78 min, 2023) and the forthcoming Last Night at the Palm Court (90 min, 2026). He is the editor of Big Chiefs in Conversation: Traditions of Black…

Nick Weldon is senior editor at the Historic New Orleans Collection, where he is editor and co-author of Captive State: Louisiana and the Making of Mass Incarceration (2025) and the award-winning graphic history Monumental: Oscar Dunn and His Radical Fight in Reconstruction Louisiana (2021). He has also been editor for several major museum exhibitions and…

Givonna Joseph is Founder and Artistic Director of the award-winning OperaCréole. Her research on 19th-century New Orleans free classical and operatic composers of color and Creole history and heritage has been featured on CBS Saturday Morning, NBC Nightly News, NPR, and in Black Enterprise, 64 Parishes, and Atlas Obscura. As an international soloist, arts integration…

Kristen L. Berry is the author of We Don’t Talk about Carol, a USA Today bestselling novel. Born and raised in Metro Detroit, Kristen earned her BA in English Language & Literature from the University of Michigan. She has provided PR and communications expertise to leading consumer brands for more than 20 years, all while…

Gil Z. Hochberg is a writer and scholar whose work bridges the political and art. Trained in Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley, she is now a Professor of Comparative Literature and Middle East studies at Columbia University in New York. Her research and writing engage literature, cinema, visual art, and photography, exploring…

A. Angélique Roché, Esq. LL.M. is a journalist, producer, author, and educator from New Orleans, Louisiana. A multi-hyphenate storyteller, her work sits at the crossroads of history, current events, and their impact on pop culture. She has been seen/heard on various outlets and platforms, including Harper’s Bazaar, NBC News, NBCBLK, MSNBC, AMC/BBC, SyfyWire, Disney, Marvel…

Denne Michele Norris is the editor-in-chief of Electric Literature, winner of the 2022 Whiting Literary Magazine Prize. She is the first Black, openly trans woman to helm a major literary publication. A 2021 Out100 Honoree, her writing has been supported by MacDowell, Tin House, and the Kimbilio Center for African American Fiction, and appears in…