Cast of characters
Here are some of the members, present and past, of the Grotto.
Daniel Alarcón (past): Books include “War by Candlelight” and “At Night We Walk in Circles.” Executive producer of “Radio Ambulante,” a Spanish-language journalism podcast.
Tom Barbash: Wrote the novel “The Last Good Chance” and nonfiction book “On Top of the World: Cantor Fitzgerald, Howard Lutnick, & 9/ 11: A Story of Loss & Renewal.” Teaches at California College of the Arts.
Po Bronson: Grotto co-founder and author of “Why Do I Love These People?” and “What Should I Do With My Life?”
Monica Campbell: Immigration reporter and editor at Public Radio International’s “The World.” Worked in Mexico City 2003-09.
Ethan Canin (past): Grotto co-founder now teaches at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Author of “The Palace Thief” and “America America.”
Noah Hawley (past): Novelist (“The Good Father’) and screenwriter (“Lies and Alibis”). Showrunner for TV’s “My Generation” and “Fargo,” adapted from the Coen brothers’ film.
Gerald Jones: Books include “Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Superheroes and Make-Believe Violence” and “The Undressing of America: How Our Culture Wars Over Sex and Privacy Were Born” (forthcoming).
Josh Kornbluth (past): Stage monologues include “Red Diaper Baby,” “Haiku Tunnel,” “Love & Taxes” and “Citizen Josh.”
Stephanie Losee: Managing editor at Dell. Helped launch Dell’s Paid Posts as a brand on the New York Times’ native advertising platform.
Kathryn Ma: Author of the novel “The Year She Left Us” and Iowa Short Fiction Awardwinning story collection “All That Work and Still No Boys.”
Mary Roach (past): Author of the best-selling popular science books “Stiff,” “Bonk,” “Spook” and “Gulp.”
Julia Scheeres: Books include the memoir “Jesus Land” and “A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Jonestown.”
Julia Scott: Radio producer, journalist and essayist. Editor of “Drivel: Deliciously Bad Writing by Your Favorite Authors.”
T.J. Stiles: Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for “The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt.” Previous book on Jesse James and forthcoming biography of George Armstrong Custer.
Ethan Watters: Grotto cofounder who writes about mental health, culture and social psychology. Author of “Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche.”