EXTRAORDINARY LIVES

Born in Germany and raised in Indianapolis, poet ADRIAN MATEJKA is the author of several collections, including Somebody Else Sold the World, Map to the Stars, The Devil's Garden, Mixology – which won the 2008 National Poetry Series – and The Big Smoke, winner of the 2014 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry. His work has appeared in literary journals and magazines including American Poetry Review, Callaloo, Crab Orchard Review, Gulf Coast, Indiana Review, Poetry, Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, and in anthologies including From the Fishouse and The Best American Poetry 2010. He served as poet laureate of Indiana in 2018-19 and is the editor of Poetry magazine. Last On His Feet: Jack Johnson and the Battle of the Century (Liveright), is his first graphic novel.

LES STANDIFORD is the author of 25 critically acclaimed books, including 10 novels and the nonfiction Last Train to Paradise (now nearing its 40th printing); Palm Beach, Mar-A-Lago and the Rise of America’s Xanadu; Meet You in Hell; and Bringing Adam Home. His book The Man Who Invented Christmas was a New York Times Editors’ Choice and made into a feature film starring Christopher Plummer and Dan Stevens in 2018. He is distinguished university professor of English and founding director of the creative writing program at Florida International University, and holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in literature and creative writing from the University of Utah. He attended the U.S. Air Force Academy and Columbia School of Law, and is a former screenwriting fellow and graduate of the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. He lives in Miami with his artist wife Kimberly.

PABLO BRESCIA is a writer, critic, and professor of Spanish at the University of South Florida, where he directs the graduate program. His areas of research are the theory and history of short fiction, and the intersection of science, technology, and literature in Latin America.

SCOTT EYMAN is the author of Charlie Chaplin vs. America: When Art, Sex, and Politics Collided (Simon & Schuster). He is also the author or co-author of 16 books, including the bestseller John Wayne: The Life and Legend, Pieces of My Heart: A Life, and You Must Remember This: Life and Style in Hollywood's Golden Age with actor Robert Wagner. Eyman also writes book reviews for The Wall Street Journal and has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Chicago Tribune.