National Advisory Council
Kwame Alexander
Poet, Children’s writer, and Newbery Medal winner
Isabel Allende
Novelist, Memoirist, American Academy of Arts and Letters, and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient
Marie Arana
Novelist, Biographer, Critic, National Book Award finalist, and L.A. Times Book Prize winner
Jabari Asim
Novelist, Children’s writer, Literary critic, and Educator
A. Scott Berg
Biographer, Pulitzer Prize winner, and National Book Award winner
Billy Collins
U.S. Poet Laureate and Educator
Maureen Corrigan
Journalist, Author, Professor, and Literary Critic, The Washington Post, and NPR
Rita Dove
Former U.S. Poet Laureate, Essayist, Educator, and Pulitzer Prize winner
Stuart Dybek
Poet and Fiction writer
Jennifer Egan
Novelist, Short story writer, and Pulitzer Prize winner
Dave Eggers
Author, Editor, Publisher, National Book Award finalist, and L.A. Times Book Prize winner
Louise Erdrich
Novelist, Bookseller, National Book Award winner, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction winner
Elliot Figman
Poet and Executive Director, Poets & Writers Foundation
Reginald Gibbons
Poet, Author, and Professor
Nikki Giovanni Jr.
Poet, Essayist, Activist, and Educator
Adam Gopnik
Author, Journalist, and George Polk Award winner
Joy Harjo
Poet, Writer, Musician, Playwright, and Ruth Lily Prize from the Poetry Foundation
Juan Felipe Herrera
Former U.S. Poet Laureate, Performer, Cartoonist, and Educator
Jeffrey Lependorf
Executive Director, Council of Literary Magazines and Presses
Lisa Lucas
Journalist, Broadcaster, and Executive Director, National Book Foundation
Haki R. Madhubuti
Author, Poet, and Publisher, Third World Press
Leonard S. Marcus
Author, Critic, and Children’s book historian
Alice McDermott
Novelist, Educator, and National Book Award winner
Azar Nafisi
Author and Professor
Joyce Carol Oates
Novelist and Educator
Roxana Robinson
Novelist, Biographer, and Critic
Marilynne Robinson
Novelist, Essayist, Educator, Pulitzer Prize winner, National Book Award finalist, Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction winner
Max Rudin
Publisher, Library of America
Peter Sagal
Memoirist, Humorist, Journalist, Writer and Host of NPR’s Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!
George Saunders
Fiction Writer and Educator
Donna Seaman
Senior Editor, Booklist, American Library Association
Lisa See
Novelist, Memoirist, andAsian/Pacific American Award for Literature winner
Anna Deavere Smith
Playwright, Actress, Educator, and Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize winner
Ilan Stavans
Editor, Essayist, Translator and Educator
Natasha Trethewey
Former U.S. Poet Laureate, Educator, and Pulitzer Prize winner
Scott F. Turow
Novelist and Memoirist
Viet Thanh Nguyen
Novelist, Educator, Pulitzer Prize winner, and Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature winner
Edward Widmer
Historian and Scholar