Jerry W. Ward, Jr. is Professor of English and African American Studies at Dillard University and was previously the Lawrence Durgin Professor of Literature at Tougaloo College. His previous books include Redefining American Literary History (1990), Black Southern Voices (1992), and Trouble the Water: 250 Years of African-American Poetry (1997). His work has also appeared in such journals as Southern Quarterly, Obsidian, and Callaloo.

Robert J. Butler is Professor of English at Canisius College. His books include The Critical Response to Ralph Ellison (Greenwood, 1998), The Critical Response to Richard Wright (Greenwood, 1995), The City in African American Literature (1995), and Richard Wright's Native Son: The Emergence of a New Black Hero (1991). His articles have been published in The Centennial Review, The Dreiser Newsletter, CLA Journal, MELUS, and other journals.

Books by