Carlos Fuentes is the author of more than twenty books, including Happy Families, The Eagle's Throne, This I Believe, The Death of Artemio Cruz, and The Old Gringo. He served as Mexico's ambassador to France from 1975 to 1977. He has received many awards and honors, including the Rómulo Gallegos Prize, the National Prize in Literature (Mexico's highest literary award), as well as France's Legion of Honor medal, and Spain's Prince of Asturias Award. His work has appeared in The Nation, Vanity Fair, and The New York Times. He currently divides his time between Mexico City and London.

Sergio Muñoz-Bata is the editor and owner of Intelatin, a Los Angeles based syndicate that publishes in more than 18 magazines and newspapers in the U.S. and Latin America. He is a founding teacher at the Gabriel García Márquez Foundation for New Iberian-American Journalism and serves as a media consultant for newspapers throughout the Americas, where his columns also appear in both English and Spanish language newspapers. Previously he served on the editorial board of the Los Angeles Times, was editor of the L.A. Times' Spanish language weekly, Nuestro Tiempo, and was executive director of La Opinión.