An Open Letter to the American People

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Mark Slouka – Brewster, NY
Andrew Altschul – Fort Collins, CO
Jennifer Egan – Brooklyn, NY
Gregory Pardlo – New York, NY
Geraldine Brooks – West Tisbury, MA
Junot Díaz – Cambridge, MA
Tobias Wolff – Stanford, CA
Stephen King – Bangor, ME
Richard Russo – Portland, ME
Amy Tan – San Francisco, CA
ZZ Packer – San Francisco, CA
Ha Jin – Boston, MA
Edmund White – New York, NY
Dave Eggers – San Francisco, CA
Rita Dove – Charlottesville, VA
Jane Smiley – Carmel Valley, CA
Phillip Lopate – New York, NY
Allan Gurganus – Hillsborough, NC
Michael Chabon – Berkeley, CA
James Wood – Boston, MA
Claire Messud – Boston, MA
Cheryl Strayed – Portland, OR
Nick Flynn – Brooklyn, NY
Carl Phillips – St. Louis, MO
Jo Ann Beard – Rhinebeck, NY
Lan Samantha Chang – Iowa City, IA
David Shields – Seattle, WA
Francine Prose – New York, NY
Tracy K. Smith – Princeton, NJ
Sven Birkerts – Arlington, MA
Nicole Krauss – New York, NY
Daniel Handler – San Francisco, CA
Elizabeth Berg – Oak Park, IL
Steve Yarbrough – Boston, MA
Colm Toibin – New York, NY
Oscar Villalon – San Francisco, CA
Jonathan Lethem – Claremont, CA
Maxine Hong Kingston – Oakland, CA
Charles Bernstein – New York, NY
Ed Falco – Blacksburg, VA
Kim McLarin – Boston, MA
Ann Packer – New York, NY
Sue Miller – Boston, MA
Eleanor Henderson – Ithaca, NY
Alfred Corn – Providence, RI
Lynne Sharon Schwartz – New York, NY
Rick Moody – Astoria, NY
Lydia Davis – East Nassau, NY
David Gates – Missoula, MT
Erin McGraw – Sewanee, TN
Stephen Elliott – New York, NY
Roy Blount, Jr. – New Orleans, LA
Andrew Hudgins – Sewanee, TN
W. Ralph Eubanks – Washington, DC
Jean Valentine – New York, NY
Ursula Hegi – Sag Harbor, NY
Richard Bausch – Orange, CA
Jill McCorkle – Hillsborough, NC
Bobbie Ann Mason – Lexington, KY
Susan Choi – Brooklyn, NY
Ed McClanahan – Lexington, KY
Robert Matt Taylor – Los Angeles, CA
Julia Scheeres – Berkeley, CA
Margot Livesey – Cambridge, MA
Matthew Zapruder – Oakland, CA
Daniel Mendelsohn – Annandale-on- Hudson, NY
Anita Shreve – Newfields, NH
Lyn Hejinian – Berkeley, CA
Camille Dungy – Fort Collins, CO
Lauren Grodstein – Moorestown, NJ
Gerald Stern – New York, NY
Lynne Tillman – New York, NY
Paul Lisicky – Philadelphia, PA
Dan Beachy-Quick – Fort Collins, CO
Rebecca Solnit – San Francisco, CA
Bill Clegg – New York, NY
Ayelet Waldman – Berkeley, CA
Charles Baxter – Minneapolis, MN
Sigrid Nunez – New York, NY
Aline Ohanesian – San Juan Capistrano, CA
Maurice Manning – Springfield, KY
John L’Heureux – Stanford, CA
Mary Roach – Oakland, CA
Melanie Rae Thon – Salt Lake City, UT
Sarah Shun-lien Bynum – Los Angeles, CA
Rivka Galchen – New York, NY
L. Kennedy – London, UK
Alan Shapiro – Chapel Hill, NC
Mark Doty – New York, NY
Patricia Hampl – St. Paul, MN
Tom Zoellner – Los Angeles, CA
Athena Stevens – Las Vegas, NV
Robert Bausch – Stanford, VA
D. A. Powell – San Francisco, CA
Alexander Chee – New York, NY
Leslie Jamison – Brooklyn, NY
Josh Weil – Nevada City, CA
Lauren Groff – Gainesville, FL
Meg Wolitzer – New York, NY
Amy Hempel – Gainesville, FL
Aimee Nezhukumatathil – Oxford, MS
Brenda Hillman – Kensington, CA
Adam Mansbach – Berkeley, CA
Dan Raeburn – Chicago, IL
Aimee Bender – Los Angeles, CA
Tom Barbash – Mill Valley, CA
Verlyn Klinkenborg – East Chatham, NY
Andre Dubus III – Newbury, MA
Val Brelinski – Woodland, CA
Dinty W. Moore – Athens, OH
Dana Spiotta – Syracuse, NY
Paul Yoon – Cambridge, MA
Scott Hutchins – San Francisco, CA
Edward Schwarzschild – Albany, NY
Laura Fraser – San Francisco, CA
Julie Orringer – Brooklyn, NY
Brian Turner – Orlando, FL
Jane Hirshfield – Mill Valley, CA
V. V. Ganeshananthan – Minneapolis, MN
Gloria Frym – Berkeley, CA
E. J. Levy – Washington, DC
Lloyd Schwartz – Somerville, MA
Sasha Steensen – Fort Collins, CO
Gregory Maguire – Concord, MA
Katharine Noel – Baltimore, MD
Nicholas Delbanco – Ann Arbor, MI
Salvatore Scibona -New Haven, CT
Curtis Sittenfeld – St. Louis, MO
Ben Marcus – New York, NY
Elisa Albert – Albany, NY
Kaui Hart Hemmings – Kailua, HI
Lucy Corin – San Francisco, CA
Garth Greenwell – Iowa City, IA
Maxine Chernoff – Mill Valley, CA
Karen Russell – Portland, OR
Kim Addonizio – Oakland, CA
Marilyn Hacker – New York, NY
Lewis Warsh – New York, NY
Suzanne Rivecca – San Francisco, CA
Susan Steinberg – San Francisco, CA
Julie Lythcott-Haims – Palo Alto, CA
Molly Antopol – Cambridge, MA
Helen Schulman – New York, NY
Ralph Black – Rochester, NY
Jill Talbot – Denton, TX
Charles Bock – Brooklyn, NY
Lee Daniel Kravetz – San Mateo, CA
Julie Scelfo – New York, NY
Lori Ostlund – San Francisco, CA
Steven Schwartz – Fort Collins, CO
Anthony Marra – Oakland, CA
Lytle Shaw – New York, NY
Keith Scribner – Corvallis, OR
Susan Jackson Rodgers – Corvallis, OR
Mark Edmundson – Charlottesville, VA
Vince Passaro – New Rochelle, NY
Ron Silliman – Paoli, PA
Robert Boswell – Houston, TX

David Biespiel – Portland, OR
Ilyse Kusnetz – Orlando, FL
Eric Puchner – Baltimore, MD
Victoria Redel – New York, NY
Leni Zumas – Portland, OR
Justin Torres – Los Angeles, CA
David Vann – Tallahassee, FL
Matthew Cooperman – Fort Collins, CO
Aby Kaupang – Fort Collins, CO
Laura van den Berg – Cambridge, MA
Rick Barot – Tacoma, WA
Jill Bialosky – New York, NY
Will Allison – South Orange, NJ
David Goodwillie – Brooklyn, NY
Benjamin Hale – Tivoli, NY
Jeff Parker – Amherst, MA
Ru Freeman – Bala Cynwyd, PA
Alexandra Teague – Moscow, ID
Michelle Richmond – Burlingame, CA
Chelsey Johnson – Richmond, VA
Daniel Orozco – Moscow, ID
Marie Howe – New York, NY
Jenny Hollowell – Los Angeles, CA
Geoffrey Brock – Fayetteville, AR
Kevin J. Clark – San Louis Obispo, CA
Donald Morrill – Tampa, FL
Lisa Birnbaum – Tampa, FL
Joshua Furst – New York, NY
Randall Mann – San Francisco, CA
Jennifer duBois – Austin, TX
Erika Meitner – Blacksburg, VA
Joy Katz – Pittsburgh, PA
Rachel Zucker – New York, NY
Celeste Gainey – Pittsburgh, PA
Samina Ali – San Francisco, CA
Emily Mitchell – Silver Spring, MD
Leslee Becker – Fort Collins, CO
Henri Cole – Boston, MA
Celeste Ng – Cambridge, MA
Mira Jacob – Brooklyn, NY
Will Boast – Chicago, IL
Rebecca Lehmann – Potsdam, NY
Peter Bognanni – St. Paul, MN
Rebecca Makkai – Chicago, IL
Alix Ohlin – Easton, PA
Peter Ho Davies – Ann Arbor, MI
Douglas Trevor – Ann Arbor, MI
Emily Carlson – Pittsburgh, PA
Glasgow Phillips – Los Angeles, CA
Jennifer Richter – Corvallis, OR
Lily Tuck – New York, NY
Patricia Marx – New York, NY
Corinna Vallianatos – Claremont, CA
Matthew Vollmer – Blacksburg, VA
Nic Brown – Clemson, SC
Jamie Quatro – Lookout Mountain, GA
Bernard Cooper – Los Angeles, CA
N. Devers – Brooklyn, NY
Joan Wickersham – Cambridge, MA
Eileen Pollack – New York, NY
Deirdre McNamer – Missoula MT
Michelle Herman – Columbus, OH
Karen Leona Anderson – St. Inigoes, MD
Jerry Gabriel – St. Inigoes, MD
William Pierce – Boston, MA
Hilma Wolitzer – New York, NY
Phyllis Raphael – New York, NY
Benjamin Taylor – New York, NY
Douglas Bauer – Cambridge, MA
Suzanne Ruta – New York, NY
Merrill Joan Gerber – Pasadena, CA
Pamela Painter – Cambridge, MA
Fred Marchant – Arlington, MA
Alexandra Marshall – Boston, MA
Roxana Robinson – Cornwall, CT
Anne Bernays – Cambridge, MA
Jennifer Haigh – Boston, MA
Suzanne Nossel – New York, NY
Caroline Leavitt – Hoboken, NJ
Martha McPhee – New York, NY
Edie Meidav – Amherst, MA
Carol Sklenicka – Jenner, CA
Susan Scarf Merrell – Sag Harbor, NY
Katharine Weber – Bethany, CT
Barbara Fischkin – Long Beach, NY
Terese Svoboda – New York, NY
Helen Klein Ross – New York, NY
Beverly Gologorsky – New York, NY
Carolyn Burke – Santa Cruz, CA
Alix Kates Shulman – New York, NY
Elinor Lipman – New York, NY
V. Hansmann – New York, NY
Peter Trachtenberg – Pittsburgh, PA
Angela Davis-Gardner – Raleigh, NC
Jill Ciment – Gainesville, FL
Noy Holland – Heath, MA
Marjorie Sandor – Corvallis, OR
Mark Wunderlich – Catskill, NY
Letty Cottin Pogrebin – New York, NY
Jacob Slichter – Brooklyn, NY
Masha Hamilton – Brooklyn, NY
Beth Gutcheon – New York, NY
Tova Mirvis – Newton, MA
Joan Silber – New York, NY
Douglas Unger – Las Vegas, NV
Jane Ciabattari – Cotati, CA
Laura Zigman – Cambridge, MA
Danielle Legros Georges – Boston, MA
Lynda Schor – New York, NY
Diana Abu-Jaber – Fort Lauderdale, FL
Joanna Hershon – Brooklyn, NY
April Bernard – Saratoga Springs, NY
Jennifer Gilmore – Brooklyn, NY
Lis Harris – New York, NY
Rebecca Kaiser Gibson – Marlborough, NH
Natalie Bakopoulos – Ann Arbor, MI
Raymond P. Scheindlin – New York, NY
Andrea Scrima – Berlin, Germany
Kathleen Hill – New York, NY
Leora Skolkin-Smith – New York, NY
Rosanna Warren – Chicago, IL
David Huddle – Burlington, VT
Tony Eprile – Bennington, VT
Doug Anderson – Thorndike, MA
Robin Hemley – Iowa City, IA
Rita Calderon – New York, NY
Deborah Schupack – Croton-on-Hudson, NY
Courtney Angela Brkic – Washington, DC
Alice Mattison – New Haven, CT
Sallie Tisdale – Portland, OR
Julia Slavin – Washington, DC
Jessica Treadway – Boston, MA
Samuel Autman – Greencastle, IN
James Carroll – Boston, MA
Lily King – Yarmouth, ME
Todd Hasak-Lowy – Evanston, IL
Janna Malamud Smith – Boston, MA
Tim Weed – Putney, VT
Nadell Fishman – New York, NY
Laurie Sheck – New York, NY
Kathryn Davis – Montpelier, VT
Claire Vaye Watkins – Ann Arbor, MI
Heidi Pitlor – Natick, MA
Marina Budhos – Maplewood, NJ
Toby Olson – Cape Cod, MA
Lisa N. Brennan – New York, NY
Lalita Tademy – Menlo Park, CA
Ned Van Zandt – New York, NY
Rafael Yglesias – New York, NY
Barry Goldensohn – Brooklyn, NY
Lorrie Goldensohn – Brooklyn, NY
Dale Peterson – Arlington, MA
Benjamin Anastas – Brooklyn, NY
Lily White – Brooklyn, NY
Maddie Dawson – Guilford, CT

Andrew Scott – Indianapolis, IN
Sarah Stone – El Cerrito, CA
Michael Lowenthal – Boston, MA

Ron Nyren – El Cerrito, CA
Carole Rosenthal – New York, NY
Donna Masini – New York, NY
Jane Shore – East Calais, VT
Leslie Bulion – Durham, CT
Martha Rhodes – New York, NY
Kate Walbert – New York, NY
Robert Polito – New Paltz, NY
Jerry Mander – San Francisco, CA
Chana Bloch – Oakland, CA
Emily Goodman – New York, NY
Nancy Antle – New Haven, CT
Sarah Knight – Brooklyn, NY
Joan Frank – Santa Rosa, CA
Carol Zoref – New York, NY
Quincy Long – New York, NY
Katy Lederer – Brooklyn, NY
Ianthe Brautigan Swensen – Santa Rosa, CA
Charles Barasch – Plainfield, VT
David St. John – Venice, CA
Elaine Fletcher Chapman – Newport News, VA
Kim Dana Kupperman – Washington, DC
Becca J. R. Lachman – Athens, OH
Michael Dumanis – Bennington, VT
Elena Delbanco – Ann Arbor, MI
Michael Waters – Ocean, NJ
Anne Marie Macari – New York, NY
Anna Journey – Venice, CA
Elizabeth Nunez – Amityville, NY
Mary Kay Zuravleff – Washington, DC
Ross White – Durham, NC
Leo Vanderpot – Croton-on-Hudson, NY
Karen E. Bender – Wilmington, NC
Alicia Ostriker – Princeton, NJ
Naomi Replansky – New York, NY
Lisa Michaels – Healdsburg, CA
Joan Larkin – West Orange, NJ
Ellen Doré Watson – Northampton, MA
Jane Lazarre – New York, NY
Wesley Brown – Chatham, NY
Clark Blaise – New York, NY
Joan Appell Lipkin – St. Louis, MO
Mimi Schwartz – Princeton, NJ
Peter Cooley – New Orleans, LA
Mary Morris – Brooklyn, NY
Melvin Jules Bukiet – New York, NY
Kathleen Balma – New Orleans, LA
Adrian Van Young – New Orleans, LA
Jay Neugeboren – New York, NY
Michael Klein – New York, NY
Jaime Manrique – New York, NY
Jeanne Marie Beaumont – New York, NY
Leslie Connor – Madison, CT
Meg Waite Clayton – Palo Alto, CA
Mary Crow – Fort Collins, CO
Sophie Cabot Black – Wilton, CT
Alice B. Fogel – Walpole, NH
Anne Waldman – New York, NY
Emily Leider – San Francisco, CA
Dan Wakefield – Indianapolis, IN
Mindy Lewis – New York, NY
Jane Mead – Napa, CA
Ellen Sussman –Sebastopol, CA
Natalie Safir – Tarrytown, NY
Rosellen Brown – Chicago, IL
R. M. Ryan – Duncans Mills, CA
Zack Rogow – San Francisco CA
Wesley Brown – Chatham Center, NY
Linda Pastan – Potomac, MD
Leslie Berlin – Palo Alto, CA
Tim Hernandez – El Paso, TX
Katy Lederer – Brooklyn, NY
Patricia Grossman – Brooklyn, NY
Martha Southgate – Brooklyn, NY
Ruth Sydney Charney – Greenfield, MA
Lucy Ferriss – West Hartford, CT
Rachel M. Brownstein – New York, NY
Matthew Kennedy – Oakland, CA
L. S. Asekoff – Clermont, NY
Jill McDonough – Boston, MA
Peter Streckfus – Fairfax, VA
Aliki Barnstone – Columbia, MO
Linda Gregerson – Ann Arbor, MI
Estha Weiner – New York, NY
Eleanor Lerman – Long Beach, NY
Ann Hood – Providence, RI
Gary Soto – Fresno, CA
Margaret Randall – Albuquerque, NM
Susana H. Case – New York, NY
Zachary Lazar – New Orleans, LA
David Baker – Granville, OH
Meredith Trede – New York, NY
Thomas Lynch – Milford, MI
Sharon Dolin – New York, NY
Charles Salzberg – New York, NY
Carol Anshaw – Chicago, IL
Steve Turtell – New York, NY
Alexandra Enders – New York, NY
Sonia Pilcer – Hillsdale, NY
Martín Espada – Amherst, MA
Stephen Goodwin – Manassas, VA
Ed Ochester – Shelocta, PA
Sue William Silverman – Grand Haven, MI
Cathi Hanauer – Northampton, MA
Carol Rial – New York, NY
Susan Stinson – Northampton, MA
Richard Tayson – Queens, NY
Kate Christensen – Portland, ME
Richard Hoffman – Cambridge, MA
Beth Ann Bauman – New York, NY
Daniel Shapiro – New York, NY
Frances Dinkelspiel – Berkeley, CA
Janet Burroway – Chicago, IL
Bill Zavatsky – New York, NY
Pamela Stewart – Hawley, MA
Janet Sternburg – Encino, CA
Beatrix Gates – Brooksville, ME
Barbara Ras – San Antonio, TX
Lidia Yuknavitch – Portland, OR
Mary Ann McFadden – Riverside, CA
Cynthia Kling – Cold Spring, NY
Phillis Levin – New York, NY
Heather Young – Mill Valley, CA
Gretchen Primack – Hurley, NY
Tania James – Washington, DC
Robert Thomas – Oakland, CA
Rachel Nelson – Ann Arbor, MI
Marilyn Krysl – Boulder, CO
Norbert Hirschhorn – Richfield, MN
T. R. Hummer – Cold Spring, NY
Sam Hamill – Anacortes, WA
Margot Singer – Granville, OH
Jennifer Atkinson – Fairfax, VA
Philip Metres – Cleveland, OH
Sally Keith – Washington, DC
Elizabeth Macklin – New York, NY
Robin Rinaldi – Los Angeles, CA
Carol Polsgrove – Asheville, NC
Robert Hershon – Brooklyn, NY
Julie Sheehan – Southampton, NY
Judith D. Schwartz – Bennington, VT
Maggie Kast – Chicago, IL
Cheryl P. Sucher – Hopewell, NJ
Nancy A. Smith – Ashfield, MA
Hilary Reyl – New York, NY
Cornelia Nixon – Berkeley, CA
Catherine Brady – San Francisco, CA
Joshua Mohr – Seattle, WA
Mark Sundeen – Moab, UT
Jennifer Maier – Seattle, WA
L. R. Berger – Contoocook, NH
Sarah Van Arsdale – New York, NY
Elena Passarello – Corvallis, OR
Anne Yeomans – Colrain, MA
James Hannaham – Brooklyn, NY