Elizabeth Rush is the author of Rising: The Unsettling of the American Shore (Milkweed Editions, 2018) and Still Lifes from a Vanishing City: Essays and Photographs from Yangon, Myanmar (Things Asian, 2014.) She has collaborated with artists from all over Asia for the Things Asian Alphabetical World series and her essays have appeared in Harpers, Granta, Guernica, Creative Nonfiction, Orion, Le Monde Diplomatique and others. In 2016, she was awarded the Howard Foundation Fellowship by Brown University where she currently teaches courses on writing and reading literary nonfiction. 

Maritta Nurmi is a biologist and visual artist based in Finland and Vietnam. Experimenting and processing are key elements in her practice. When canvas is not enough, Nurmi paints atop 3D objects: mundane tables, stools or ceramic jars, all get a new beatific life by her hand. At an artist residency in Benin, Africa she added wearable art to her repertoire. Most recently she has been venturing into public art and community-based art projects. Nurmi has had museum and gallery exhibitions in Asia, Europe and the United States. Her works belong in private collections worldwide and are also housed in public collections such as those of the State of Finland, Waino Aaltonen Museum (WAM), Hameenlinna Art Museum, Aboa Vetus Museum, Prudential Tokyo and Nikko Vietnam.