Brett Anderson is the founder and lead singer of Suede.

John Sullivan is Emeritus Professor of Christian Education at Liverpool Hope University, UK. He is the author and editor of nine books on aspects of Christian education.

Langston Hughes (1902-1967), a central figure of the Harlem Renaissance and one of the most influential and esteemed writers of the twentieth century, was born in Joplin, Missouri, and spent much of his childhood in Kansas before moving to Harlem.

His first book of poetry, The Weary Blues, was published in 1926; its success helped him to win a scholarship to Lincoln University, in Pennsylvania, from which he received his B.A. in 1929 and an honorary Litt.D. in 1943. Among his other awards and honors were a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Rosenwald Fellowship, and a grant from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Hughes published more than thirty-five books, including works of poetry, short stories, novels, an autobiography, musicals, essays, and plays. 

JULIA REED (1960-2020) was a contributing editor at Garden & Gun, where she wrote the magazine's "The High & the Low" column.

Her books include But Mama Always Puts Vodka in Her Sangria; Ham Biscuits, Hostess Gowns, and Other Southern Specialties; and Queen of the Turtle Derby and Other Southern Phenomena. Reed divided her time between New Orleans and Greenville, Mississippi.

Daniel Patterson was born in Massachusetts and moved to California in 1989, where he now has three restaurants: Coi (2006), Plum (2010) and Haven (2012).

At Coi, Patterson mixes modern culinary techniques with local and cultivated ingredients to create highly original dishes that speak of place, memory and emotion.

It is an approach that has won him two Michelin stars and a worldwide reputation for pioneering a new kind of Californian cuisine.

Patterson is also a frequent contributor to the New York Times, Lucky Peach, Food & Wine and other publications.

After a nomadic childhood in America, Canada and the UK, Jonathan has been travelling ever since and currently lives in Paris. Having taken a first from University College, London, he received his doctorate from Jesus College, Oxford.

Early books include studies of British artists Eric Gill and David Jones. Most recently, Medusa: The Shipwreck, the Scandal and the Masterpiece, Nine Lives of Otto Katz and St Petersburg: Three Centuries of Murderous Desire were all published to international acclaim.

Edward Lee is the author of Smoke & Pickles; chef/owner of 610 Magnolia, MilkWood, and Whiskey Dry in Louisville, Kentucky; and culinary director of Succotash in National Harbor, Maryland, and Penn Quarter, Washington, DC.

He appears frequently in print and on television, including earning an Emmy nomination for his role in the Emmy Award–winning series The Mind of a Chef. Most recently, he wrote and hosted the feature documentary Fermented. He lives in Louisville and Washington, DC.

Susan Orlean has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1992.

She is the author of seven books, including Rin Tin Tin, Saturday Night and The Orchid Thief, which was made into the Academy Award-winning film Adaptation.

She lives with her family and her animals in Los Angeles.

Lolis Eric Elie is a writer and filmmaker. He was a writer on Treme, Bosch, Greenleaf, and The Man in the High Castle; his work has appeared in Best African American Essays, The New York Times, Gourmet, and Saveur; and he has been featured on 60 Minutes.

He is a New Orleans native and one of the founders of the Southern Foodways Alliance.