Kevin Young is the author of seven books of poetry, including "Ardency: A Chronicle of the Amistad Rebels" (Knopf, 2011) and "Jelly Roll: A Blues" (2003), which was a finalist for the National Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and won the Paterson Poetry Prize. His book, "The Grey Album: On the Blackness of Blackness," won the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize and appeared in March 2012. He is the editor of eight other collections, including "The Art of Losing: Poems of Grief & Healing" (Bloomsbury, 2010) and "Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010," edited with Michael S. Glaser for BOA, Clifton's longtime press.

Raúl Colón is an acclaimed illustrator and childrens’ book author. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Time magazine, The New Yorker, and The Wall Street Journal. He is the recipient of both gold and silver medals from the Society of Illustrators for his picture-book artwork. Raúl currently lives in New York.