Joseph Bathanti, former Poet Laureate of North Carolina (2012-14) and recipient of the North Carolina Award in Literature, is author of seventeen books. Bathanti is McFarlane Family Distinguished Professor of Interdisciplinary Education at Appalachian State University. He served as the 2016 Charles George VA Medical Center Writer-in-Residence in Asheville, North Carolina, and is the co-founder of the Medical Center's Creative Writing Program. David Potorti is the co-founder of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. He served as the literature and theater director for the North Carolina Arts Council and is active in ONE Wake, a non-partisan, multi-ethnic, multi-issue group of religious congregations, associations, and other non-profits in the Wake County, North Carolina area, implementing systemic changes within society to achieve the common good.