Paolo Belardi, an architect and poet, is Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Perugia. He has won numerous international prizes, including TECU Architecture Award and the Premio Internazionale di Architettura Andrea Palladio.

Zachary Nowak is a graduate student in the doctoral program for American Studies at Harvard University and Associate Director for the Food Studies Program at the Umbra Institute, in the central Italian city of Perugia.