SJ Murray

Emmy-Nominated Writer, Producer & Story Designer

Laurell K. Hamilton

NY Times Bestselling Author of the "Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter" Series & "Merry Gentry" Series of Paranormal Thrillers

Gregory Maguire

Award-winning, Best-selling Author of the Wicked Years Novels

Wally Lamb

Best-Selling Novelist & Educator

Mia Alvar

Author Best Known For "In the Country: Stories"

Alice McDermott

Celebrated Author, Pulitzer Prize Finalist & Former Professor For Distinguished Teaching In The Humanities at John Hopkins University

Julia Alvarez

Award-Winning Poet, Novelist & Essayist

Genevieve Valentine

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer

Young-Ha Kim

Korean Novelist & TED Talker

William D. Adams

Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities

Thomas Mallon

Author of "Watergate"

BC Biermann

Visiting Assistant Professor of Media Studies & Studio Arts, University of Missouri Saint Louis, The Heavy Projects

Stephen Jay Greenblatt

Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University & Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author

Marcus Lyle Brown

Marcus Lyle Brown is an American film and television actor.

Tonea Stewart

Actress; Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Alabama State University

Cameron Bailey

Co-Director of the Toronto International Film Festival

Yo-Yo Ma

Grammy Award-Winning Cellist, Founder & Artistic Director for the Silk Road Project

John Waters

Cult Filmmaker, Actor, Writer & Visual Artist

Simon Van Booy

Novelist, Playwright, Philosopher

Danae Ringelmann

Founder, Indiegogo; Lodge & Farm Owner; Young Global Leader at World Economic Forum

Peter Doolittle

Cognition Expert & Professor of Educational Psychology

Valerie June

Musician, Singer-Songwriter, Poet & Actor

Dr. Jeffrey Ogbar

‎Founding Director, Center for the Study of Popular Music at University of Connecticut

David Biale

Leading Scholar of Jewish Intellectual & Cultural Life; Author & Three-Time Winner of the National Jewish Book Award

Annette Gordon-Reed

Professor of American Legal History at Harvard Law School & Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author

Joshua Bell

Grammy-winning Violinist & Conductor

Elizabeth Alexander

Renowned Poet Known For Inauguration Poem "Praise Song for the Day"

The privilege of perspective ft. Elizabeth Alexander

Quiara Hudes

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright Known for "In The Heights;" Author Known for "My Broken Language"

Mark Anthony Neal

Author, Cultural Critic, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of African & African American Studies

Art Alexakis

Musician, Singer-Songwriter & Guitarist; Front Man of the '90s Rock Band "Everclear"