Roberta Lawrence came of age in the recording booth, then her songs expanded into short stories and novels. Her novel-in-progress, Quietly Crazy for You, was inspired by the years she spent in the parallel universe of jazz and studio musicians. She has won a New Voices Award from the Writer’s Voice, a Ludwig Vogelstein Fiction grant, and residencies at Ragdale and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Her articles on musicians have appeared in BOMB, Musician, and ASCAP in Action. She currently helms her marketing and PR firm, Roberta Lawrence Media. As a songwriter, singer and record producer, she has worked with Richie Havens, Bob James, Herbie Hancock and Donald Harrison. Her CD with trumpeter Mike Lawrence, “Nightwind,” topped the Billboard charts and will be reissued in Spring 2012.

Neal Ungerleider reports on the Middle East, Africa, and Asia for Fast Company Magazine. His articles have been published in Slate, Foreign Policy, Wired and Saveur.

Bruce Ward is a writer, actor, director and teacher. He has performed his acclaimed solo show Decade: Life in the ’80s across the U.S., including in NYC at the HERE performance art cafe and the NYC International Fringe Festival. Bruce has Master’s degrees from the New School and Boston University and has thrice been a fellow at VCCA. He is currently working on a memoir, Last Man Standing.