Arts

Mark Helprin was published in The New Yorker for almost a quarter of a century.  His stories and essays on politics and aesthetics appear in The Atlantic Monthly, The New Criterion, The Wall Street Journal, Commentary, The New York Times, The National Review, American Heritage, Forbes ASAP, and more. Helprin has published three short story collections: A Dove of the East and Other Stories, Ellis Island and Other Stories, and The Pacific and Other Stories. He is also the author of six novels: Refiner's Fire, Winter's Tale, A Soldier of the Great War, Memoir From Antproof Case, Freddy and Fredericka and, In Sunlight and In Shadows. Helprin has also penned three children's books: Swan Lake, A City in Winter, and The Veil of Snows, all illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg. Helprin has been awarded the National Jewish Book Award, the Prix de Rome, the Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award, 2006, and the 2010 Salvatori Prize in the American Founding, among other prizes. www.markhelprin.com

Howard Norman is a three-time winner of National Endowment for the Arts fellowships and a winner of the Lannan Award for fiction. His 1987 novel, The Northern Lights, was nominated for a National Book Award, as was his 1994 novel The Bird Artist. He is also author of the novels The Museum Guard, The Haunting of L, and Devotion. His books have been translated into twelve languages. Norman teaches in the MFA program at the University of Maryland. He lives in Washington, D.C., and Vermont with his wife and daughter.

Tom Elder is the author of It’s All About Timing. He lived in Aspen for decades but now lives in New Castle, Colorado. In addition to fiction, Elder also writes poetry and he works as a substitute teacher when he is not writing.

Jessica Soffer earned her MFA in Fiction at Hunter College. Her work has appeared in Granta, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Vogue among other publications. She teaches fiction at Connecticut College and lives on Long Island. Her first novel is Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots.

Mary Doria Russell is author of five novels including The Sparrow, Children of God, A Thread of Grace, Dreamers of the Day and Doc.  A Thread of Grace and Doc were nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.  She began her career as an academic and turned to writing when she lost her job.  She has a BA in Cultural Anthropology, an MA in Social Anthropology and a PhD in Biological Anthropology.  Her novel Doc was a One Book, One Community selection for Glenwood Springs.  www.marydoriarussell.net