Richard Russo chronicles blue-collar America in constantly surprising ways. Russo's previous works include seven novels and one collection of short stories. His 2001 novel, Empire Falls, won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. It was also adapted into an HBO mini-series, starring Paul Newman, Ed Harris, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Helen Hunt. He currently lives in Camden, Maine.

Carolyn Kellogg is an LA-based book critic and the lead blogger for the LA Times book blog, Jacket Copy. She was a judge of the 2010 Story Prize and is on the board of the National Book Critics Circle. http://carolynkellogg.com/