Laura Nowlin is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel If He Had Been with Me, as well as If Only I Had Told Her and This Song Is (Not) for You. She holds a BA in English with an emphasis in creative writing from Missouri State University and lives in St. Louis.

Barbara Ellen Kingsolver is an American novelist, essayist, and poet.

Susan Eloise Hinton is an American writer best known for her young-adult novels (YA) set in Oklahoma, especially The Outsiders (1967), which she wrote during high school.

Stephen Chbosky is an American film director, screenwriter, and author.

James McBride is an American writer and musician.

Jerome David Salinger was an American author best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye.