Lauren Acampora is the author of The Wonder Garden, winner of the GLCA New Writers Award and a finalist for the New England Book Award; The Paper Wasp, longlisted for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize; and The Hundred Waters, named a best book of 2022 by Vogue. She is a 2021 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Fiction from The New York Foundation for the Arts. Her writing has appeared in the Paris Review, Guernica, the New York Times Book Review, and LitHub, among other places. She lives in Westchester County, New York with her husband, artist Thomas Doyle, and their daughter.

*photo by Thomas Doyle

John Sayles is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, and novelist. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, for Passion Fish and Lone Star. He has written seven novels, the most recent being Yellow Earth and A Moment in the Sun. His latest novel is the epic and historical novel, Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade’s Journey.

*photo by Mary Cybulski

Mason Daring has composed music for over 75 feature films, including 16 with John Sayles.  Daring has also worked with Wes Craven (Music of the Heart), Tom Hanks (Earth to the Moon),  Tony Goldwyn (Walk on the Moon), and Matt Williams (Where the Heart Is). For over twenty years, Daring was the proprietor of Daring Records, a subsidiary of Rounder Records in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he produced such well known artists as Butch Thompson,  Duke Levine,  Guy Van Duser, Billy Novick and Special guest Jeanie Stahl (with whom he has performed nationally for almost 50 years).

*photo by Margaret Lampert

"Jeanie Stahl's voice is so rich and smooth", wrote one critic, "it should be bottled and sold."  She has recorded seven albums in the folk/pop genre, including three with Mason Daring, her longtime collaborator, and one of songs from the American Songbook. The latter was released following her starring in eight music videos of songs from the 30's and 40's, which aired nationally on PBS following the Masterpiece Theater series Love in a Cold Climate. Her songs and vocals have been featured on television and in films, including John Sayle's movies Lianna and Return of the Secaucus Seven and other features such as the cult hit, The Opposite of Sex.

*photo by David Moir

LIZJE is a versatile Colombian/American Artist, songwriter and producer. She brings a unique take to latin pop music, mixing the beats of her Colombian roots with current styles to bring out the soulfulness of her voice. Lizje creates a style completely her own. She recently released her single “Todavia”, "Mas de Paz" and teaches at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.  

*photo by Eric Magnussen