MacArthur “Genius” and author of Heavy: An American Memoir, Laymon has been heralded as a fearless and provocative voice chronicling the Black experience and advocating for greater recognition of Black creativity. Good, God: A Creation Story, will be published in April 2027.

Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “a bard of the modern South” and chosen by Time as one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2026, Jones crafts stories that explore the complexities of family, race, and relationships. Her newest, the Kirkus Prize winner Kin, and An American Marriage were both Oprah’s Book Club Selections.

New York Times bestselling author, MacArthur “Genius” and two-time National Book Award-winner Ward has been called “the new Toni Morrison” by the American Booksellers Association. Her novels include Let Us Descend and the National Book Award-winning Sing, Unburied, Sing and Salvage the Bones. Her latest is her first essay collection, On Witness and Respair.

An award-winning educator and Director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Institute at Stanford University, Martin regularly speaks to audiences around the country about the intersecting forces of faith, politics, and race that shape American history and institutions. His latest book is Young King: The Making of Martin Luther King Jr.

MacArthur “Genius” Perry’s New York Times bestseller South to America: A Journey Below the Mason Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation won the National Book Award in 2022.  Hope in a Classroom: The Remarkable Story of Black American Students, Teachers, and Schools from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement will be published in January 2027.