(fiction writer, poet and children's author, Malawi; born in Ntcheu, 1971) is considered one of his country's bright and promising writers. His children's novel, Fleeing the War, won the British Council Write a Story competition and was published by Macmillan Malawi in 1996. He is presently editorial assistant for educational materials at the Malawi Institute of Education, acting president of the Malawi Writers Union, and was chairperson of the 1997 Malawi Book Fair & Literary Festival. He also belongs to the Copyright Society of Malawi and the Malawi PEN organization. A teacher by training and freelance journalist, Mr. Sharra has taught in primary schools and contributed articles to various publications and the radio, including the BBC. He is interested in familiarizing himself with US literary history while he is at the University of Iowa. His participation is supported by the US Information Agency.
(fiction writer, Russia; born in Moscow, 1963) is assistant professor of Russian literature at Moscow State University, and is considered one of the most interesting contemporary writers in Russia. Still in his early thirties, has has already received considerable recognition in Russia's literary circles; he was a winner of the Anti-Booker Prize in 1995 and received awards from the Moscow magazine Oktyabr (October) and from the German club Lege Artis e V. He has written three books and has published short stories prolifically in Moscow as well as in Germany and Japan. His works are also forthcoming in Great Britain and the Netherlands. He is a graduate of the department of Russian language and literature at Moscow State University, and is now one of the leading specialists in the department. He has served as visiting professor at the University of Rostock (Germany) and the University of Ghent. In addition to English and his native Russian, he speaks Spanish and French. He is at the IWP on a grant from the US Information Agency.
(born in Budapest, 1969) has had his first, prizewinning play stag‚ed at one of Hungary's most celebrated theaters; this play ,The Shooting Party, won a drama competition on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian revolution. His novel, Linesman Marton is Cold (Budapest, 1995) received the 1995 Sandor Brody Prize for Best First Book in Hungarian literature. His translations cover a range of contemporary works: the poems of Derek Walcott, Charles Simic; fiction by John Berendt, Richard Preston (The Hot Zone), and Stephen King; plays by Caryl Churchill and Thomas Middleton. Mr. Hamvai holds the MA in English literature and linguistics from Elte University, and did a year of graduate research at Oxford. He is currently editor of a literary periodical at the Eotvos Kollegium and of a journal of linguistic studies at Elte University. He was appointed to the program by the US Information Agency.
(born in Michoacan de Ocampo, 1940) is senior professor of American and English literature at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and as a highly placed mentor to several generations of students, he has been instrumental in developing a good number of his country's current scholars, authors, translators, and researchers of American and British literature. He studied at Trinity College in Cambridge. He is the author of many scholarly texts, including The English Novel: Four Eighteenth Century Authors (1978); "Shakespeare: The Mirror and the Target" (1979); "Irony and Humor in Medieval Literature" (1983); currently in press is The Hero in the American Novel: from Herman Melville to Russell Banks. Prof. Quintero is presently working on a nonfiction work addressing life in big cities. His first novel Semper Fidelis (1994) is described as a Mexican novel about Vietnam, and tells of a Mexican student on scholarship at a US university who, to thank the United States for its generosity, enlists in the US Army during the Vietnam war. His participation in the IWP will be his first extensive visit to this country, and is supported by the US Information Agency.
is the author of six novels that she describes as political-psychological works, among them Time of Illness, Time of Mourning and Illumination. Her work has appeared in an anthology of Polish women writers and deals with Stalinist times in Poland from the viewpoint of a child and teenager. Ms. Oryszyn was a journalist with the Solidarity weekly and in the underground press during Poland's time of great change, and she is currently a member of the Polish PEN and the Association of Polish Writers. She completed her studies in the philosophy faculty of Warsaw University in 1970. Her works have appeared in Hungarian and German translation. Her participation in the IWP is through a grant from the Alfred Jurzykowski Foundation.
(born in Seoul, 1959) is an assistant professor at Ansung National Univversity and recently joined Literature and Thought magazine. His publications include Literature and Society at a Turning Point (1991) and At the Threshold of Rationalism (1997). He holds the Ph.D. in Korean modern literature from Seoul National University. The Korean Culture and Arts Foundation is providing his grant in cooperation with the IWP.
(born in Budapest, 1956) is chief editor of literature and theatre at Hungarian Television (MTV), and as a well-established playwright is regularly commissioned to translate and to stage plays with English-language origins. He received his training in Hungarian language and literature, English language and literature, and comparative literature at Eotvos Lorand University, and held a Fulbright Fellowship at Columbia University in 1992-93. He is a member of the Hungarian Writers' Union and PEN. Mr. Bekes has published ten books, several novels and collections of short fiction and plays. He is supported by a grant from the United States Information Agency.
(fiction writer, poet, critic, Singapore; born in Singapore, 1949) is a leading figure in the literature of the ASEAN region. Dr. Singh is head of the Division of Literature and Drama at the Singapore National Institute of Education. His books include Singapore Potpourri (1970), Articulations (1972), Twenty Poems (1976), Palm Readings (1986), Critical Engagements (1986), Jaspal + 2 (1997). He has participated in several international literary festivals all over the world. He has also been Writer-in-Residence in many different universities. Forthcoming titles include Catwalking (1997) and Why Make Love Twice (1998). His works have been the subject of serious studies by critics internationally and he is today regarded as a major voice in the Indian Diaspora as well as in Southeast Asia. His participation is supported by the Lee Foundation of Singapore.
(born in Perak, 1948) began writing fiction on her return to the National University of Singapore for a literature honours course and after teaching some years in a junior college. The result was a novel, Ricebowl (1984); in 1986, she co-authored a prizewinning short play, The Amah: a Portrait in Black and White. Her second novel, Gift from the Gods, appeared in 1990, and in 1992 she was the first writer to receive the Singapore Literature Prize for her third novel, Fistful of Colours. While studying for her post-graduate diploma in applied linguistics, she co-edited a literature series for secondary schools. She is presently a curriculum specialist in the Singapore Ministry of Education, and has also written teaching materials and several children's stories. Ms. Lim is here on a Fulbright grant through the Council for International Exchange of Scholars.
(born in Leningrad Oblast, 1955) writes in a style that has been described as "covering a complete range of the most unpredictable possibilities," its scope traversing psychological realism and surrealism, its style moving "from expressionist lucidity to the sparkle of paradox." Her work as writer, critic, and translator has appeared in all the major journals of Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as in every anthology of Russian 20th-century prose. Critics have called the tale, "Caribia from the Obvodnoy Canal," one of the most striking and significant prose works of 1991; it was later nominated for the Russian Booker prize. Her prose has been translated into eight languages and published throughout Europe and North America. Ms. Palei received her academic training at the Leningrad Medical Institute and the Moscow Literary Institute; she is a member of the Union of Writers of Russia and the Russia PEN Center. The USIA is providing her grant to the IWP.
(born 1975, Moscow) received the prestigious first award of the Moscow journal Znamya (Banner) for her short novel "Samurai's Daughter," which is forthcoming from the Moscow English-language magazine Glas. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals including Smena, Arion and Chemistry and Life. Ms. Gosteva was educated in the Physics Department of the Moscow State University, and currently works in the international office of Barin's Realty Company. Her participation in the IWP is supported by the United States Information Agency.
(fiction writer, Switzerland; born 1943, Wald) has published seven novels, most recently Kilchenstock, der Bergstruz in den Köpfen (Limmat Verlag, 1996), and numerous children's books, collections of stories and essays, among them Die Fabrikglocke, Vom Aufstand der Glarner Stoffdrucker gegen die Zeit (Limmat Verlag, 1994), Sanduhren im Fels, Erzählungen und Reportagen (Limmat Verlag, 1994), and Der Computerdieb (Benziger Verlag, 1986). Mr. Zopfi is the author of nine radio plays as well. His work is much acclaimed in Switzerland, and his many awards include Cultural and Literary Awards from the Swiss Alpine Club, Canton and City Awards of Zurich, a National Award for Children's Story and an award from the Pro Helvetica Foundation. Mr. Zopfi currently works teaching creative writing workshops. His participation in the IWP is supported by the Swiss government.
(fiction writer, Burma/Myanmar; born 1949, Rakhine State, Myanmar) has published over twenty-five books of fiction, non-fiction, and translated works, including, among many others, Those Who Sell "Things" for Human Use and other stories, winner of the 1995 National Literary Award. Some of his other original and translated works include On Death and other short stories (1993), Normal Mind and Normal Behaviour (a collection of articles on Applied Psychology, 1993), Ward Number Six (translation 1977, original by Anton Chekhov) and First Love (translation 1988, original by Ivan Turgenev). Mr. U was educated in medicine at the Institute of Medicine in Yangon, and in journalism at the Indochina Media Memorial Foundation in Bangkok. He worked as a medical practitioner for 11 years, and now serves as editor for two publishing houses, Sarpaylawka Bookhouse and Myanmar Book Publishing House. His participation in the IWP is supported by the IWP. His name is pronounced /oo/ /pay/ /myent/.
(born 1947, Ankara) published 4 collections of short stories that explore issues of feminism and gender before publishing her first novel, Dagin Oteki Yuzu (The Other Side of the Mountain), in 1996. The novel won the prestigious Orhan Kemal Prize that year, and is currently being translated into English. Her latest short story collection is titled Tas Ustune Gul Oymasi (Roses Engraved on Marble), and experiments with the short story genre in the context of feminist discussions of art, history and social change. Dr. Atasü currently works as a free-lance writer, and was formerly a professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy at Ankara University, where she received both her B.A. and her Ph.D. Her participation in the IWP is supported by the United States Information Agency.
(fiction writer, cultural journalist, Israel; born 1952, Tel Aviv) received the IBM Prize for Tolerance for a series of articles about Iranian political refugees in an Israeli prison, and his biography of the Israeli poet Yona Wallach (Keter Publishing Co., 1993) was on the Israeli best-seller list for several months. His novel The Memory Hunter was published by Am Oved in 1997. His collection of short stories, Israel, Another Landscape has been translated into Italian and French. After fighting in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Mr. Sarna was one of the founding members of Peace Now. He has been on the editorial board of Israel's most popular daily newspaper, Yediot Ahronot since 1986. His participation in the IWP is supported by the United States Information Agency.
(born 1960, Rio de Janeiro) is a reporter and critic for Brazil's major daily newspaper. He is also a freelance consultant and translator for a prestigious Brazilian publishing firm. He is the author of three novels, Teatro (1998), Os Bêbados e os Sonâmbulos (1996; French edition, 1998); Onse (1965), and a collection of short stories, Aberração (1993; French edition, 1997). Educated at the Universidade de Sao Paulo and the Pontifica Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Mr. Carvalho holds an M.A. in Arts and Communications, with a dissertation on German Romanticism and the New German Cinema. In addition to Portuguese and English, he speaks and writes fluent French and understands Spanish. His participation in the IWP is supported by the Vitae Foundation.
(born 1969, Binh Dinh Province) won the award for story of the year from Youth Magazine for his most recent collection of short stories, Aco Mot Nguoi Nam Tren Mai Nha (A Man Lying on the Roof, Writers' Publishing House, 1997). He is the author of three other collections of short fiction, including the prize-winning Nhung Linh Hon Lac (The Lost Souls, Youth Publishing House, 1995) and Quan 'O Rung (The Wild-Beef Restaurant, Youth Publishing House, 1995). Many of Mr. Hai's short stories have been translated into English for Vietnam News, the Vietnamese English-language newspaper. He currently works as Assistant to the General Manager of Nissho Iwai Corporation in Ho Chi Minh City. His participation in the IWP is supported by the United States Information Agency.
(fiction writer, editor, Uganda; born 1971, Kampala) had her first novel, Memoirs of a Mother (Femrite, 1998), published this year to great acclaim in Ugandan literary circles. She is an active member of the Uganda Writers Association and the Uganda Women Writers Association, and currently works as an editor for The New Vision Newspaper, Uganda's leading daily newspaper, where she specializes in writing book reviews and features. Ms. Wangusa was educated at Makerere University, where she received her M.A. in Literature in 1996. Her participation in the IWP is supported by the United States Information Agency.
(fiction writer, playwright, West Bank/Palestine; born 1941, Sawahra) has published numerous books of fiction for adults and children, including, most recently, Qalat Marian, Qalalfata (Said Marian, Said the Boy, The Union of Palestinian Writers, 1996) and Oghniet Al Mahar (The Song of Oysters, Dar Al-Quds, 1995). He is currently working on a novel, Al-Madina Thatafajren Ba'Id (The City of Faraway Dawn), as well as an autobiography and scripts for five television series. In 1990 he received a prize from the Association of Jordanian Writers. Mr. Shuqair studied philosophy and sociology at the University of Damascus, and currently works as chief editor of Dafater Thaqafieh (Cultural Notebook) and as Director General in the Department of Literature at the Ministry of Culture in Ramallah. His participation in the IWP is supported by the United States Information Agency.
(born 1970, Kwang-ju) began her writing career in 1993, with the publication of a number of poems. The same year, she graduated from Yon-sei University, where she studied Korean Language and Literature. In 1994, her poems won a prize in the annual literary contest held by Seoul-Shinmun, the national newspaper. Since then, however, Ms. Han has been concentrating more on fiction than on poetry. After publication of a number of her texts, her first book of short stories, The Love of Yeosu, was published in 1995. Her first novel, The Black Deer, was published this summer. Her participation in the IWP is funded by the Korean Culture and Arts Foundation.
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