Carmen Maria Machado is known for blending genres such as surrealism, fantasy and horror to create a unique writing style. She is the author of the best-selling memoir, In the Dream House and the award-winning short story collection Her Body and Other Parties. In 2018, The New York Times listed Her Body and Other Parties as a member of "the new vanguard," one of "15 remarkable books by women that are shaping the way we read and write fiction in the 21st century."
Rumaan Alam's 2020 thriller, Leave the World Behind, is an insightful exploration of fate and privilege. Leave the World Behind was a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award and is being adapted into a film with Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and the New Republic, where he is a contributing editor. Alam studied writing at Oberlin College.