A former longtime columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, Vanessa Hua has written about Asia and the diaspora from countries such as China, Burma, and South Korea, and has contributed articles to The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic. She is the author of the bestselling novel A River of Stars, the award-winning story collection Deceit and Other Possibilities, and fiction that has been published in numerous literary journals. Hua's honors include a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a Steinbeck Fellowship in Creative Writing, awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature. A national bestseller, longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, and named one of the best novels of the year by several publications, Forbidden City tells the story of a teenage girl in 1960s China who becomes a heroine of the Cultural Revolution and Mao Zedong's lover.

Pia Sarkar is a longtime journalist with more than two decades of experience. She currently serves as deputy business editor for enterprise at The Associated Press, based in Philadelphia. She is also a board member of the South Asian Journalists Association and an executive committee member of the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. She previously worked as an editor and reporter for such media outlets as The American Lawyer, the San Francisco Chronicle and The Bergen Record. Sarkar received her bachelor's degree in English and communication from SUNY-Buffalo and her master's degree in journalism from Columbia University. (recorded 4/3/2023)