DIMA HILAL
is a poet and writer, born in Beirut and raised in California. Her work has appeared in various publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, Mizna and Orion Magazine. Her writing has been anthologized in The Poetry of Arab Women: A Contemporary Anthology and Scheherezade's Legacy: Arab and Arab American Women on Writing.

She has been featured at the Beyond Baroque Cultural Center, World Stage, Levantine Cultural Center, Autry Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and at the first International Reading Series held at the Alexandria Library in Egypt. Her libretto was a finalist in the Words and Music Project, commissioned by the Oakland East Bay Symphony. She has taught poetry workshops and given lectures on issues of identity, culture and community in contemporary Arab poetry.
www.dimahilal.com

JACQUELINE HIGUERA McMAHAN
writes the South to North column exclusively for The San Francisco Chronicle. She has taught at several cooking schools and is the author of six books, including The Salsa Book, The Mexican Breakfast Book, The Chipotle Chile Cookbook and California Rancho Cooking. Jacqueline comes from a culinary tradition that spans backward through the gold rush and the missions era. In Rancho Cooking, she tells the tale of the Californios' cuisine and of her own family through stories and recipes handed down for generations. California Rancho Cooking is as much a history book as a cookbook.

KATIA NOYES
writes a beautifully spirited story in her debut novel, Crashing America, narrated by a street wise, 17-year-old lesbian called “Girl” who travels the American heartland in search of love, freedom and belonging. Crashing America was named a Book Sense Notable Book and was chosen as one of the Ten Best Gay/Lesbian Books of 2005 by Amazon.com and the United Kingdom's Rainbow Network. It was also nominated for three fiction awards, the Northern California Book Award, Publishing Triangle Award and Lambda Literary Award.
www.crashingamerica.com

STARSHINE ROSHELL
grew up in Los Angeles' entertainment industry. She worked at The Hollywood Reporter before joining the Santa Barbara News-Press in 1995 as a news reporter, theater and music critic and feature writer.

Starshine was one of many newsroom staffers who left the News-Press after eight editors resigned in protest in July of 2006. Her resignation letter, posted at www.starshineroshell.com, is regarded as poignant and candidly accurate. Her popular weekly column, which now runs in the Independent, offers a fresh and quirky take on women's issues, from the cult of thong underwear to the availability of the morning-after pill. Starshine also writes for Santa Barbara Magazine, SBParent.com and teaches journalism at Santa Barbara City College.

ALISA VALDES - RODRIGUEZ
is a best selling novelist and an award-winning print and broadcast journalist. Entertainment Weekly named her a breakout literary star and Latina magazine named her a Woman of the Year. Hispanic Business magazine has twice named her among the one hundred most influential Hispanics in the nation.

And now, Time magazine has named her one of the twenty-five most influential Hispanics in America, as well as the “godmother” of “chica lit.” This new genre tells mainstream, modern stories of professional, educated American women. Alisa’s debut novel, The Dirty Girls Social Club, became a national best seller. Her body of work also includes Playing with Boys, Make Him Look Good, and Alisa’s first young adult novel, Haters, which will be released October 2006.
www.alisavaldesrodriguez.com

Rebecca published To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism, an anthology that remains in print after more than ten years. Rebecca’s memoir, Black, White, and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self, became an international bestseller and won the Alex Award from the American Library Association.
www.rebeccawalker.com

JACQUELINE WINSPEAR
Jacqueline’s first novel, Maisie Dobbs, a National Bestseller, became a New York Times Notable Book, a Booksense Top Ten Pick, was listed as a Top Ten mystery by Publishers Weekly, and received seven award nominations, including an Edgar nomination for Best Novel. Maisie Dobbs was also honored with the prestigious Agatha, Macavity and Alex Awards.

The sequel, Birds of a Feather, received four award nominations, and won the Agatha Award for Best Novel. Jacqueline’s third novel, Pardonable Lies, garnering starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and Booklist, was place on the New York Times extended bestseller list. Pardonable Lies won the Sue Feder Award for Historical Fiction. Her fourth novel, Messenger of Truth, immediately became a national bestseller.

In addition to writing fiction, Jacqueline is a non-fiction writer specializing in international education. www.jacquelinewinspear.com