Dan Barry is a senior writer for The New York Times and author of several books, including This Land: America, Lost and Found; The Boys in the Bunkhouse; Pull Me Up; City Lights; and Bottom of the 33rd. Among his many journalistic honors are a share of a Pulitzer Prize; a George Polk Award; an American Society of Newspaper Editors Award for deadline reporting, for coverage of the first anniversary of 9/11; a Mike Berger Award for in-depth human interest reporting; and the PEN/ESPN Literary Award for Sports Writing. Barry edited Jimmy Breslin: Essential Writings for the Library of America, which was published in February.

Colum McCann is the author of seven international bestselling novels, including Apeirogon and TransAtlantic, both of which were longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and Let the Great World Spin, for which he was honored with the National Book Award. He is also the author of three story collections: Everything in this Country Must, Fishing the Sloe-Black River, and Thirteen Ways of Looking. Born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, he has been the recipient of many international honors, including the International Dublin Literary Prize, a Chevalier des Arts et Lettres from the French government, election to the Irish Arts Academy, the 2010 Best Foreign Novel Award in China, and an Oscar nomination. His work has been published in more than 40 languages. McCann is the co-founder and president of the global non-profit story exchange organization Narrative 4, which helps build empathy in young people, encouraging them to improve their communities. American Mother was published in March 2024.

Mary-Louise Parker will next star in Paramount Global’s highly anticipated limited series Gray House. She can currently be seen in Bernardo Britto’s Omni Loop, which premiered at this year’s SXSW festival. Additional film and television include Seneca: On the Creation of Earthquakes, The Same Storm, Colin in Black & White, Weeds (Golden Globe Award, Emmy and SAG nominations), Angels in America (Emmy, Golden Globe, and Satellite awards), The West Wing (Emmy nomination), Mr. Mercedes, Billions, When We Rise, The Five Senses (Gemini Award), R.I.P.D., Red and Red 2, Solitary Man, Behaving Badly, Red Sparrow, Red Dragon, Fried Green Tomatoes, Boys on the Side, Grand Canyon, Sugartime, The Assassination of Jesse James, A Place for Annie, The Robber Bride (Emmy nomination), Romance and Cigarettes, Pipe Dream, Golden Exits, and others. Parker recently starred in the Broadway revival of How I Learned to Drive, a role she originated off-Broadway (Tony nomination, Obie Award, Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics Circle awards). In 2021, she won the Tony Award for Adam Rapp’s The Sound Inside. Her additional theater credits include Proof (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, Lucille Lortel, Obie awards), Prelude to a Kiss (Tony nomination, Theatre World Award, Clarence Derwent Award, Drama Desk nomination), Heisenberg, The Snow Geese, Reckless (Tony nomination), Four Dogs and a Bone, The Art of Success, Hedda Gabler, Bus Stop, Communicating Doors, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Hay Fever, among others. Parker was a member of Circle Rep Theater Company. Also a writer, Parker served as an on-staff contributor at Esquire magazine for more than a decade and has written for The New York Times, O magazine, Bullet, Bust, Glamour, Hemispheres, The Riveter, In Style, and more. Her first book, Dear Mr. You, was translated into multiple languages, was included on the San Francisco Chronicle’s list of best books of the year, and the audio book was nominated for best narration by the Audio Publishers Association. Parker was a contributor to the anthology Anonymous Sex, and her poetry was featured in Three Views. For her philanthropic work, she has been honored with the Woman of Vision Award from the David Lynch Association, the Sandra Day O’Connor Award, the GLAAD Award, and the Hetrick Martin Award.