Josh Barkan is the winner of the Lightship International Short Story Prize, and runner-up for the Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction, the Paterson Fiction Prize, the Juniper Prize for Fiction, as well as the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. His previous books include the novel Blind Speed and short story collections Before Hiroshima and Mexico (Hogarth/Penguin Random House). Josh’s new book, the memoir, Wonder Travels, delves deep into the intricacies of a fifteen-year marriage that ends in deception, wondering throughout if we can really ever know another person. He has taught creative writing at Harvard, NYU, the University of Iowa, Hollins University and MIT. He lives in Boston.
*Photo by Steven B Smith

Danielle Miraglia’s music will move your heart as well as your hips! She comes armed with a strong, steady thumb on her old Gibson, playing along to her infectious, stomp-box rhythms. Danielle’s tunes range from the heartfelt to the socially conscious, winning her the New England Music Award for Blues Act of the Year. Her latest “Bright Shining Stars” debuted at #15 on the Billboard Blues Charts, and the Cascade Blues Association calls it "...tough as rawhide, but smooth as blended whiskey."  Danielle has played on bills with a wide array of great artists -- from Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter, and John Hammond Jr., to Joan Osborne, John Oates, The Black Crowes, Mary J Blige, The Indigo Girls and many more.
*Photo by Joshua Pickering

Andre Dubus III is the author of the acclaimed novels Gone So Long, Dirty Love, The Garden of Last Days, House of Sand and Fog (a New York Times bestseller, Oprah's Book Club pick, and finalist for the National Book Award), and the memoir Townie. His latest work is the novel Such Kindness which was hailed as “...magnificent…Dubus at his absolute finest…” by Lily King. His work has been recognized with an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Magazine Award, and two Pushcart Prizes. He lives with his family in Newburyport, Massachusetts.
*Photo by C. John Hauschildt

The Family Township has been making their Boston-bred brand of classic-rock-inspired music for nearly two decades. As the years and albums have progressed, Township's music has evolved, infusing itself with greater urgency, immediacy, and existential rumination. According to the Boston Globe: “Few rock outfits in memory so perfectly plumb the shaggy-haired, and shag-carpeted, terrain of ’70s-era hard rock without it coming across like snark or shtick…a powder-keg potent mix of reverential sincerity, escapist silliness, and more flashback-familiar hooks than you can flick a Bic at.” Throughout their 6 albums (with #7 on the way), 4 EPs, and countless full-blooded performances, the fun always blasts through. Family Township remains a gang of pals who simply like writing and performing original tunes that amuse and excite each other.
*Photo by Amber Angelina