, an editor at People's Literature Magazine, is the author of three novels午夜之门 [The Gate of Midnight] (2007), 天上人间 [The Heaven and the World] (2009) and 夜火车 [The Night Train] (2009), as well as the short-story collections 鸭子是怎么飞上天的 [How Can a Duck Fly] (2006), 跑步穿过中关村 [Running through Zhongguancun] (2008), and 人间烟火 [The Earthly Life] (2009). [Hello Beijing], based on his short story, won an award for Best Television Movie. He also co-wrote the screenplay for [My Hard Boat], which won the best foreign picture award at the Action on Film International Film Festival. Zechen’s work has received numerous literary awards and is translated into German, Korean, English, and Dutch. His participation is provided courtesy of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.
. A professor of creative writing at the Catholic University of Chile, Garces is the author of Diciembre [December] (1997), Los Impacientes [The Impatient Ones] (2000), and El Futuro [The Future] (2003). His short tories and essays have appeared in anthologies and magazines, including Letras Libres, El Mercurio, Ñ, La Nación, La Joven Guardia, Palabra de América, and El Futuro no es nuestro. He is the recipient of the 1990 Colihue Short Story Award, as well as the 2000 Biblioteca Breve Award. His fourth novel, El Plan [The Plan], is forthcoming. His participation is co-sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Chile.
is the author of three books of fiction: O Vôo da trapezista [The Flying Trapeze] and Deixe o quarto como está [Leave the Room As It Is], both of which won the Açorianos Prize for Literature in 1995 and 2003, respectively; and Os lados do círculo [The Sides of the Circle], which garnered the 2005 Portugal Telecom Prize of Literature. Widely published in journals, anthologies, and magazines, he has also translated de Maupassant from the French, and attended residencies in the U.S., France, Switzerland as well as Brazil. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the US Department of State.
has studied in Dublin, at the German Creative Writing Program Leipzig and at the University for Film in Munich and written for Süddeutsche Zeitung, His plays “U-Turn” and “Memory”, have been staged in major theatres in Vienna, Munich, Heidelberg and Nuremberg. For his first novel [Amongst Loners] he won the Juergen Ponto-Stiftung prize; his second book [A Knock at the Door] was published 2009. The third, [A Hidden Human], will appear in 2011; his first movie script will also be produced that year. His participation is privately funded.
is a fiction writer and screenwriter of Korean ethnicity. For a decade an editor at the literary journal 春风 (Spring Breeze), she is now a free-lance writer. Her major works include a novel, 春香 (Spring Fragrance) and the short story collections 彼此 (Each Other), 爱情冷气流 (The Cold Front of Love), 月光啊月光 (Moonlight oh Moonlight). Jin Renshun is also the screenwriter for the films 绿茶 (Green Tea) (dir. Zhang Yuan, 2003) and 时尚先生 (Esquire Runway) (dir. Qiao Liang, 2008). Her participation is made possible by the Freeman Foundation.
An Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor, is the author of nine novels and five books of short stories, which together have made him a leading literary figure in the Spanish-speaking world. Moya was born in Honduras in 1957, but his family moved to El Salvador when he was only a few years old. During the civil war there (1979-1992), Moya twice fled the country, the first time for Canada, and the second time for Mexico City. His first novel, La diáspora (1988) won the Premio Nacional de la Novela. His third novel, El asco, Thomas Bernhard en El Salvador (1997), forced him into exile. His novels have been translated into French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, Hebrew, Serbian, and English. New Directions published Senselessness in 2008 and She-Devil in the Mirror in 2009; Biblioasis published Dance with Snakes in 2009. Through City of Asylum/Pittsburgh, he has settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is a visiting professor at the University of Pittsburgh.
Josephine ROWE (fiction writer, poet; Australia) has worked variously as a lecturer, editor and curator of literary events. Her writing has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Best Australian Poems (2005, 2006 & 2010), Best Australian Stories (2010), Overland, ABR and The Griffith Review, and her short story collection How a Moth Becomes a Boat was published in 2010. Her stories have been made into short films and performance pieces, and broadcast on Radio National's The Book Show and Poetica. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Moshe SAKAL (novelist, fiction writer; Israel) is the author of a collection of short stories, התרחיש [The Scenario] and three novels (1997), האי אני [The Not-I] (2002), אחייך אליך, אחייך [I Smile at You] (2007), and יולנדה [Yolanda] (2011). He directs literary projects for the Israel Center for Books and Libraries in Tel Aviv, is a contributing editor at the literary journal הו! [Oh!], edits a culture blog (blog.moshesakal.com/), and regularly reviews books in Haaretz Daily newspaper. His English site: www.moshesakal.com His participation is made possible by the Fulbright Foundation of Israel.
Bina SHAH (novelist, fiction writer; Pakistan) is a Karachi-based journalist and fiction writer, and has taught writing at the university level. She is the author of two short story collections, Animal Medicine (1999) and Blessings (2007), and four novels: Where They Dream in Blue (2001), The 786 Cybercafe (2004), Slum Child (2009), and A Season For Martyrs (2010). Her work has been translated into Urdu, Spanish, and Italian. She has written extensively for international and Pakistani newspapers, including The Independent, The International Herald Tribune, Dawn, Libas, The Friday Times, and (online) at Chowk and Granta magazine. Her participation is provided courtesy of the U.S. Consulate General in Karachi.
Zoë STRACHAN (novelist, playwright; Scotland) teaches creative writing at the University of Glasgow, and is the author of the novels Negative Space (2002), Spin Cycle (2004) and Ever Fallen in Love (2011). Her work has appeared in the Sunday Herald, Bamberger Punkt 14 (Germany), Bordercrossing Berlin, The Big Issue, The Antigonish Review, The Scotsman Magazine, Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature's Explorer magazine, in the anthologies SHIFTS, The Research Club, Latitute, and New Writing 15, on BBC Radio and in other radio programs. The author of the plays Panic Patterns and Old Girls and the short opera Sublimation, she is at work on an adaptation of Ibsen's The Lady from the Sea for Scottish Opera's 2012 season. She has also collaborated on conceptual art, sound, and prose pieces. Her website is www.zoestrachan.com. She participates courtesy of the British Council.
SU Wei-chen 苏伟贞 (fiction writer, nonfiction writer, Taiwan) has served as editor-in-chief of the Weekly Reader News, and is now a professor of Chinese literature at National Cheng Kung University. Su is the author of more than a dozen volumes of fiction and nonfiction, including the novels紅顏已老 [The faded years of Youth] (1981), 舊愛 [Old Love] (1985), 離家出走 [Flying from Home] (1987), 離開同方 [To Leave the Village Tong-Fang] (1990), 沉默之島 [The Island of Silence] (1994), 魔術時刻 [The Magic Hours] (2002), and 時光隊伍 [The Procession in Time] (2006), as well as of the critical and essay volumes單人旅行 [The Journey of Solitude] (1999) and 租書店的女兒 [The Memories of Books] (2010). Her academic publications are 張愛玲香港時期小說研究 [Eileen Chang's Hong Kong Period Novels] (2002) and台灣張派作家世代論 [The Influence of Eileen Chang and Her Followers in Taiwan] (2006). She is the recipient of the United Daily News Prize for the Novelette, and the China Times Million Dollar Literary Prize for the Novel. Her participation is made possible by the Council for Cultural Affairs in Taiwan.
Francisco SUNIAGA (novelist, fiction writer, nonfiction writer; Venezuela) was a lawyer and university instructor of International Politics and Law, and served in the United Nations transitory administration of East Timor, before publishing his first work of fiction, and taking on the editorship of Exxito, a monthly economics and politics magazine. He is the author of novels La otraisla [The Other Island] (2005), also translated into German, and El pasajero de Truman [Truman's Passenger] (2008), a volume of nonfiction, Pequeños, talentosos y esforzados [Little, Talented and Hardworking] (2009) and the short story collection Margarita infant [Infant Margarita] (2010). He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Jeremy TIANG (fiction writer, playwright, translator; Singapore) has acted in nearly 30 stage, television and film productions. His plays Polyglottalstop (2008), A Dream of Red Pavilions (2008), and godshaped hole (2010) were staged in London, and Operation Opera (2003) in Singapore. His story "Trondheim" won the NAC Golden Point Award. He has led theatre and creative writing workshops, translated plays from the Chinese, and contributed film, theatre, and book reviews to The Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, Straits Times, The Arts Magazine, and The Flying Inkpot. Tiang's participation is made possible by a grant from the Singapore National Arts Council.
Dorothy TSE 謝曉虹 (fiction writer; Hong Kong) teaches in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where she is also completing her PhD, and is a co-founder of the literary magazine Fleurs des Lettres. Her columns have been featured in the newspapers Ming Pao and Fleurs des Lettres, a Literary Magazine. Tse is the author of the short-story collection 好黑 [So Black] (2003), which won the 8th Hong Kong Biennial Awards for Chinese Literature. Her fiction has also been awarded prizes at the 15th Unitas New Fiction Writers' Awards, among others. She participates thanks to a grant from The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation in Hong Kong.
Marvin VICTOR (fiction writer, filmmaker; Haiti) has worked on a number of documentaries, shorts and feature-length films, including the 2009 adaptation of Kathy Acker's novel Kathy Goes To Haiti, and taught creative writing courses for Fondation Culture Création. In 2011 he has published the novel Corps mêlés (Gallimard, Paris), and his short fiction has been included in the collection Hasdf Haiti Noir; earlier, his articles have appeared in the magazine Conjonction. He is the recipient of the 2008 Young Francophone Writers Award and the 2011 Grand Prix du Roman de la Société des Gens de Lettres. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Joel TOLEDO (poet, fiction writer, nonfiction writer; Philippines) is the literary editor at The Philippine Free Press and a professor of literature at Miriam College. His reviews and columns have been featured in newspapers and magazines including The Philippine Star and The Manila Times; his creative work has appeared, among other places, in Rogue Poetry Review, Washington Square, Sunday Times Magazine, and P.E.N. 50th Anniversary Anthology of Poetry in English. He is the author of four books of poetry, including Chiaroscuro (2008) and The Long Lost Startle (2009), the children's book Pedro and the Lifeforce (1997), and of the screenplays for Todo Todo Teros and Philippine Bliss, screened at the 2007 Rotterdam Film Festival. Among his awards is the 2005 Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature for the collection What Little I Know of Luminosity, while Chiaroscuro was a finalist for the 2008 Philippines National Book Award for Poetry. A fifth poetry collection is due out this year. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Pilar QUINTANA (novelist, fiction writer; Colombia) is the author of three novels, including Cosquillas en la lengua [Tickles in the Tongue] and Conspiración iguana [Iguana Conspiracy]; an excerpt from Coleccionistas de polvos raros [Collectors of Weird Screws] appeared in em>Gargoyle in 2011. Her short stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies across Latin America, and in Spain, and Germany. In 2007, the Hay Festival Bogotá named Quintana among the 39 most important Latin American writers under the age of 39. In 2010, she received the La Mar de Letras award.Her blog is "La Manigua." Her participation is courtesy of the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá.
Ajit BARAL (fiction writer, nonfiction writer; Nepal) runs a publishing house and a bookstore in Kathmandu. He has published Interviews Across Time and Space (2007), a collection of conversations with international writers, and of The Lazy Conman and Other Stories: Folktales from Nepal (2009); he is also the co-editor of the short story collection New Nepal, New Voices (2008), and a coordinator, until recently, of the literary supplement Akshar of Nagarik daily. His writings appear in national journals, international magazines and book volumes. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Maria Sonia CRISTOFF (novelist, nonfiction writer; Argentina) teaches creative writing and Patagonian literature. Her literary pieces and criticism have been published in newspapers and magazines such as La Nación, Clarín, Página 12, Perfil and Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Noticias, Latido, TXT, Siwa, Letras Libres and Otra Parte. Cristoff is the author of the travelogue Falsa Cama [Deceptive Calm] (2005), the novella Desubicados [Misfits] (2006) and the novel Bajo influencia [Under the Influence] (2010), and the editor of three story and essay collections Patagonia (2005), Idea crónica [Chronical Idea] (2006) and Pasaje a Oriente [Passage to the Orient] (2009). She participates courtesy of the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires.
Iman HUMAYDAN (novelist, fiction writer; Lebanon) is the founder of ARRAWI, a non-profit center for marginalized youth in Lebanon. Her short stories, essays, and journalism have appeared in German, Swiss, French, and Arab newspapers and magazines. Her novels B Mithl Beit, Mithl Beirut (B as in Beirut) and Toot Barri (Wild Mulberries), have been published in Arabic, French, German, and English, followed, in 2010, by the third, Hayawat Okhra [Other Lives]. Humaydan co-wrote the screenplay for Chatti ya Deni [Here Comes The Rain], which won the first prize at the 2010 Dubai Film Festival, and edited the creative writing textbook Kitabat alkitabah (2010). Her participation is provided courtesy of the William B. Quarton Foundation.
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