Tao Lin + Saïd Sayrafiezadeh

For all his unaffected prose (including his 2013 tale of a somnambulating young writer, Teipei), Lin's poetry and his readings can be quite funny. Known as a memoirist for his 2009 title When Skateboards Will Be Free, Sayrafiezadeh adroitly explored themes of Western national identity and wartime in the short-story collection Brief Encounters with the Enemy.