Paul Muldoon: is a contemporary Irish poet. His poetry is known for its difficult, sly, allusive style, casual use of obscure or archaic words, understated wit, punning, and deft technique in meter and slant rhyme. His work is often compared with Heaney, a fellow Northern Irish poet, friend, and mentor. He has published over thirty collections and won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, the T. S. Eliot Prize, and the 2003 Griffin International Prize for Excellence in Poetry.

Stelius Mormoris: is CEO of Scent Beauty, Inc., which markets beauty products worldwide. A citizen of Greece and the U.S., he was born in New York, and lived most of his adult life in Paris. He is a contemporary artist, specializing in abstract oil painting. He first studied poetry in the Creative Writing Program at Princeton University where he received a B.A. in Architecture. He has been published in many journals. His debut book of poetry titled The Oculus was published October 2022 by Tupelo Press. He is an avid gardener and sailor and a former professional rugby player in France.

Michael McClure: (October 20, 1932 – May 4, 2020), beat poet, playwright, novelist, and documentary filmmaker born in Marysville, Kansas, and raised there and in Seattle. He gave his first poetry reading in 1955 alongside Allen Ginsberg, who gave his first public reading of “Howl,” when McClure organized the famous Six Gallery readings which would launch the legend of the Beat Poets and the San Francisco Renaissance. He was the author of numerous collections of poetry, recorded several CDs with Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek, wrote more than 20 plays and musicals, and the song “Mercedes Benz,” which was made famous by singer Janis Joplin. His honors included a fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Alfred Jarry Award, as well as a Rockefeller grant for playwriting and an Obie Award for Best Play. He taught poetry at California College of the Arts for over 40 years and lived in Oakland with his wife, the sculptor Amy Evans McClure, before his death in 2020. A selection of his papers is held at the Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley and at the Special Collections & Rare Books at Bennett Library, Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.

Genny Lim: is the recipient of PEN Oakland Reginald Lockett and Berkeley Poetry Lifetime Achievement Awards. A former San Francisco Jazz Poet Laureate, her play, Paper Angels, has been produced internationally. She is co–author of Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, winner of the American Book Award and several poetry collections, Child of War, Paper Gods & Rebels andKRA!