Randall Albers chairs the Fiction Writing Department at Columbia College Chicago, where he directs one of the largest graduate and undergraduate writing programs in the country. He is Founding Producer of the Story Week Festival of Writers, and his fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Prairie Schooner, F Magazine, Writing in Education, TriQuarterly, and elsewhere.

Dr. Richard Guzman, professor of English at North Central College since 1977, teaches courses not only in literature and writing, but also in film, music, urban and suburban studies, race and ethnicity, computer science, and leadership. He has twice won the college’s highest awards for teaching and leadership. He led in the founding of the College Scholars honors program, and two graduate programs—the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies and the Master of Leadership Studies—and served as president of the International Association of Graduate Liberal Studies programs. He has published music, poetry, and essays, and performed with his sons Daniel and Bryan throughout the Chicago area. His most recent book is Black Writing from Chicago, which has been called, “A work of great importance, and a sheer delight to read.” The Chicago Tribune called it “impressive” and “fascinating.” He has been a speaker and consultant on issues of writing and diversity in many organizations and corporations, and wrote the diversity plans for Naperville school district #203, a project for which he was honored by the State of Illinois. He is a member of Friendship United Methodist church where he is chair of the Church Council, coordinator of the church’s Daybreak homeless shelter program, head of the Cultural Crossings project, and an occasional keyboard player.