Stewart O’Nan is the author of numerous books, including Ocean State, Wish You Were Here, Everyday People, In the Walled City, The Speed Queen, and Emily, Alone. His 2007 novel, Last Night at the Lobster, was a national bestseller and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His most recent novel is Evensong (Grove Atlantic, 2025). He was born and raised in Pittsburgh.

*photo by Trudy O'Nan

High Tea, the folk-punk duo hailing from Massachusetts, is the explosive creation of a story-spinning blues guitarist and a harmony-obsessed punk. Isabella DeHerdt’s and Isaac Eliot’s songs are ripe with existential angst, weaving tales of growing up, going wild, and always coming back to the ones you love. Their previous releases, Scuba Diving, Old Cowboy, and The Wick And The Flame were featured on playlists, radio shows, and numerous publications, while the title track of Old Cowboy led them to be chosen as one of WBUR’s top 4 Massachusetts Tiny Desk entries of 2022. They were nominated for the New England Music Awards Best Americana Act in 2023 and selected to perform in the Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Showcase at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in 2025. Look for their latest album, A Small Notion, coming soon!

*photo by Carly Rae

Gish Jen's work has been included in The Best American Short Stories five times, including in The Best American Short Stories of the Century. A fellow of both the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, she has received NEA, Guggenheim, and Radcliffe fellowships, a Lannan Literary Award, and a five-year Mildred and Harold Strauss Living Award. Her short work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, and many anthologies. She has lived in Cambridge with her husband and children for forty happy years.

*photo by Romana Vysatova

Consuelo Candelaria-Barry is an acclaimed jazz pianist and award-winning composer. She’s appeared in the Panama and Cambridge Jazz Festivals with Bill Pierce and Bobby Broom, on PBS's Frontline "Unresolved" podcast special with Jason Palmer, and on many recording collaborations including Paula Cole “Ballads,” and the acclaimed "Last Sunday Morning.” Consuelo's collaborations with jazz luminaries (from Lewis Nash to Billy Hart and Tia Fuller) culminated in worldwide performances, including those for the Presidents of Costa Rica and Thailand. World renowned pianist and educator Donald Brown has called Consuelo “one of the great masters of jazz piano and a first-rate composer.” Tonight she appears in The Consuelo Candelaria Trio, featuring the renowned bassist Ron Mahdi and celebrated drum master Ron Savage.

*photo by Bob Festa