Lovalerie King is Director of the Africana Research Center, Associate Professor, and Director of Graduate Studies in African American studies at Pennsylvania State University. She is author or co-editor of six books, including James Baldwin and Toni Morrison: Comparative and Theoretical Essays; Race, Theft, and Ethics: Property Matters in African American Literature; and New Essays on the African American Novel.

Shirley Moody-Turner is Assistant Professor of English at Pennsylvania State University.