Joan Xie was born in Shanghai where she attended Shanghai Jiaotong University. She came to the United States in 1988 to study business and law. She established her law practice in New York City in 2000, specializing in immigration law. Xie is a prolific writer of poetry and essays, both in English and Chinese. Xie's poetry and essay collections include Half-Century Journey (2015), Looking Back (2016), Nothing Made Me Happier than Finding These Objects (2018). She won 2017 Moganshan International Poetry Festival Award in China. Her Chinese poems appeared in various poetry magazines such as Poetry Journal, The Yangtze River Poetry Journal, Tianya Literature Journal and Peach Blossom Poetry in China. Her English poems and translations appeared at Exchanges Literature Journal, Lips and Poetry Sky in the United States. Sam Perkins in a writer and poet based in New York City. A longtime magazine editor and writer, Perkins' nonfiction features have been widely published, notably in the "New York Times". He was for many years a writer and editor for Reader's Digest International Editions and a Senior Editor in the magazines' European Editorial Office in Paris. Perkins attended school in France, Germany and the United States. He is co-curator of the poetry and prose reading series, Bloom Readings in New York City.