Yusef Komunyakaa was born in Bogalusa, Louisiana, in 1947. His numerous books of poems include Neon Vernacular, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award.

In addition to his works of poetry, Komunyakaa has written the libretto for Testimony, an opera based on the life and music of Charlie Parker which premiered at the Sydney Opera House.

Komunyakaa also co-edited The Jazz Poetry Anthology and co-translated The Insomnia of Fire by Nguyen Quang Thieu. His honors include the William Faulkner Prize, the Thomas Forcade Award, the Hanes Poetry Prize, fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, the Louisiana Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam, where he served as a correspondent and managing editor of the Southern Cross.

In 1999 he was elected Chancellor of The Academy of American Poets. Yusef Komunyakaa is a professor in the Council of Humanities and Creative Writing Program at Princeton University.

Chad Gracia is the former Executive Director of Inverse Theater, where he acted as producer and dramaturg to the award winning playwright Kirk Wood Bromley.

His 10 acclaimed productions at Inverse include The American Revolution (dir. Emma Griffin, 1999; Howard Thoresen, 2002, winner, Best of Fringe), Midnight Brainwash Revival (dir. Joshua Spafford; "sparkles and shines..." - NY Times), and the hit musical by the late Jessica Grace Wing, Lost (winner, Best of Fringe 2003; "Perfect!" - The New Yorker).

Gracia has also published and edited six of Mr. Bromley's verse plays and written a book on the business of acting. He is the creator of ActorTips, a weekly newsletter read by over 30,000 actors.

In addition to his work in the theater, Gracia maintains an interest in ancient history and the culture and politics of the modern Middle East. As a communications consultant, he has worked with the Pentagon, the royal families of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, as well as many other businesses of the Persian Gulf. He has published extensively on Middle Eastern society and politics.