Participants by Genre

Marjan STROJAN. In translating such works as Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales, and the complete works of Robert Frost, Mr. Strojan has brought to Slovenian audiences an array of canonic works of English-language literature. His version of Milton’s Paradise Lost, published in 2004, has been turned into a 25-episode radio play and adapted for stage. He recently edited and co-translated Slovenia's first comprehensive anthology of English poetry, and is the author of four poetry collections, including Streamers in the Rain (1999) and The Day You Love Me (2003). He is the literary officer for RTV Slovenia. He participates courtesy of generous donations to the IWP Writers Fund.

Mikhail BUTOV was the youngest writer ever to receive the Russian Booker Prize in 1999 for his novel Freedom. His short stories, literary reviews, and other work have appeared in numerous Russian-language journals. In 2004, his short story “Relic” was anthologized in Five Russian Stories (USA). For the past ten years, he has served as Assistant to the Editor at Russia's main literary journal, Novi Mir. He consults for a number of Russian literary prizes, including the Bolshaia Kniga Award [Big Book], given for the most significant prose book of the year, and the Iu Kazakov Award for the year’s best story. He participates courtesy of the Open World Program.

Kseniya GOLUBOVICH has published the poetry collection Persona, the travelogue The Serbian Parable and the novel, Wishes Granted. She contributes essays on life in contemporary Russia to several newspapers and journals, including Logos, a philosophical magazine. She holds a MA from Moscow University, where she recently taught a special course on poets and power. She participates courtesy of the Open World Program.

Thomas PLETZINGER has worked and studied in Hamburg, Leipzig and New York. His stories and poems have appeared in magazines such as BELLAtriste, EDIT and sprachgebunden. The short story “Bruck on the Floor Sings as Quietly as Monk Plays” won him the 2006 MDR-Literature-Prize. A Dog’s Funeral, his first novel, is scheduled for publication in 2007. He participates courtesy of the Max Kade Foundation.

Mimi KHALVATI was born in Tehran and grew up on the Isle of Wight. Her poetry collections include Mirrorwork (1995), which received an Arts Council Writers' Award, Selected Poems (2000), and The Chine (2002). Active as an actor and director in both the UK and Iran, she has founded Matrix, a women's experimental theatre group, and co-founded Theatre in Exile. She is also the founder of the Poetry School in London. She participates courtesy of the William B. Quarton International Writing Program Scholarship.

Richard T. Arndt just left the presidency of Americans for UNESCO; previously he headed the American Fulbright Association of US alumni. He served for 24 years in the Near East, South Asia and Europe with the State Department and the U.S. Information Agency, principally as Cultural Attache in Beirut, Colombo (Sir Lanka), Tehran, Rome, and Paris. He presently chairs the US Committee for the Preservation of Ancient Tyre. His major book The First Resort of Kings: American Cultural Diplomacy in the 20th Century appeared in 2005 and in paperback in 2006; in 1993 he was principal editor of The Fulbright Difference: 1947-92. He holds a Ph.D. in French literature (18th century) from Columbia University, where he taught until 1961. Since leaving the Foreign Service, he has taught at the University of Virginia, Johns Hopkins, and George Washington University. He has seven grandchildren.

Christopher Mattison graduated with an MFA in Literary Translation from the University of Iowa and is currently managing editor of Zephyr Press, co-director of the series Adventures in Poetry, and translation editor for the Zoland Poetry annual. His translations from the Russian include Dmitrii Prigov’s 50 Drops of Blood in an Absorbent Medium (Ugly Duckling Presse) and the forthcoming Eccentric Circles: Selected Prose of Venedikt Erofeev (Twisted Spoon Press). He also edited Bei Dao’s first two books of essays, Blue House (Zephyr Press) and Midnight’s Gate (New Directions).

Harilaos “Harry” Stecopoulos is an assistant professor of English at the University of Iowa, where he teaches courses on modern American literature, culture, and performance, with specific interests in the novel, cultural studies, and postcolonial theory. His publications include the co-edited anthology Race and the Subject of Masculinities (Duke, 1997) and essays on Stuart Hall and Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Matvei Yankelevich is the founding editor of Ugly Duckling Presse in Brooklyn, where he publishes and co-edits 6x6, a poetry periodical. His translations and original work have appeared in LIT, Open City, Greetings, New York Nights, New American Writing, canwehaveourballback, Shampoo, neotrope, Dirigible, and others. His book series, Writing in the Margin, is published by Loudmouth Collective.