Rodrigo BLANCO CALDERÓN (fiction writer; Venezuela) is the author of three collections of short stories: Una larga fila de hombres [Men in a Long Line] (2005), Los invencibles (2007) and most recently Las rayas [Scratches] (2011), anthologized in many Latin American publications. Blanco Calderón participated in the 2007 Hay Festival Bogota as one of ‘Latin America’s 39 Most Exciting Authors Under 39.’ He is the founder the publishing house and bookstore Lugar Común, and teaches literature at the Universidad Central de Venezuela. His participation is made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2013 Resident
fiction writer
Mahsa MOHEBALI (fiction writer; Iran) is the author of the short story collections [The Voices] (1998) and [Love-making in Footnotes] (2004), the latter a winner of the Golshiri Foundation's award for best short story collection, and of two novels, [The Grey Spell] (2002) and [Don’t Worry] (2008), which won both the Golshiri Foundation’s and the Press Critics’ Best Novel award. Her work has been translated into Swedish, published widely in print and on-line, and performed on stages across Iran.
2013 Resident
fiction writer, translator
Muhamed ABDELNABI (fiction writer, translator; Egypt) is the author of the short story collections [A Rose For Who Betrays] (2003) and [The Ghost of Anton Chekhov] (2012), and of the novel [The Return of the Sheikh] (2012), long-listed for the 2013 Arabic Booker Prize. His stories and essays have appeared in many Arabic-language publications in print and on-line. Said’s translations into Arabic include among others work by Hisham Matar, Joe Sacco, the Dalai Lama, and Tariq Ali. He participates courtesy of the William B. Quarton Foundation.
2013 Resident
fiction writer, playwright, screenwriter
Shandana MINHAS (fiction writer; Pakistan) has been a columnist, a teacher, an actor, a screenwriter, a playwright, and more. Her novel Tunnel Vision (2007) was nominated for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book; a second title Survival Tips For Lunatics, for young readers, will be published in 2014. Minhas is currently working on a collection of short stories and another novel. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2013 Resident
fiction writer, poet, translator
Lili MENDOZA (fiction writer, poet, translator; Panama) is the author of the short story collection Corazón de charol a-go-gó (2009). Her stories and poetry have been anthologized in Panama, Costa Rica, Spain, Peru, and the U.S., and showcased at literary events in Europe. An active member of the Theater Guild of Ancon, Mendoza also collaborates in musical and dance performances. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2013 Resident
fiction writer
Tom CROSSHILL (fiction writer; Latvia) is the author of the short story collection Dubultnieki un citi stāsti (2011). His fiction has won the Writers of the Future contest, and was twice shortlisted for the Nebula Award, given out by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America. His work has been featured in Finnish, Cuban, Chinese, Polish, English, and Latvian publications. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2013 Resident
children's author, fiction writer, filmmaker, poet
Sridala SWAMI (poet, fiction writer, children’s writer; India) is the author of the poetry collection A Reluctant Survivor (2007), and four children’s books. Her creative and critical work has been published and anthologized in Wasafiri, The South Asian Review, Her Kind (the VIDA blog), and The HarperCollins Book of English Poetry, among others. Swami has been a film editor and teacher, curated a radio program “The Poetry Mohalla,” is at work on an international collaborative writing project titled Chirality, and on the text/image project ‘V’ is for Valley; she is also preparing a collection of interviews with contemporary Indian poets. Her second poetry volume, Escape Artist, is forthcoming. Her participation was made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2013 Resident
fiction writer, non-fiction writer, poet
Mark ANGELES (poet, fiction writer, essayist; Philippines) is the author of three poetry volumes and a fiction collection, all independently published. He has anthologized progressive writers in the Philippines in zines including KaMAO (Comrade Mao/fist), translations of poems by Mao Zedong. His forthcoming books include one novel and three children’s books. His poetry, short stories and essays have appeared in magazines, journals, newspapers, and anthologies. He has conducted creative writing workshops for organizations and universities across the Philippines. He participates courtesy of the U.S. Embassy in Manila.
2013 Resident
children's author, fiction writer
Oscar RANZO (fiction writer; Uganda) is the author of the novel Cross-Pollination (2012) and the children’s books The Little Maid (2012), The Wise Milkboy (2013) and The Jewels of Amuria (2013). He is the coordinator of the Child Sacrifice Prevention Program, which is based on his book Saving Little Viola, and the founder, in 2012, of the Oasis Book Project, which aims to increase the profile of Ugandan literature. He participates courtesy of the U.S. Embassy in Kampala.
2013 Resident
fiction writer, poet
Ali AL SAEED (poet, fiction writer, performer; Bahrain) is the author of the poetry collection Sad Man Dancing (2009), the short story collection Moments (2006), the essay collection The Randomist (2013), and the winner of the 2005 Bahrain Outstanding Book of the Year Award for the novel QuixotiQ. His work has been published in Rolling Stone (Middle East edition) and the Arabesques Review, among other publications. In 2006, Al Saeed, who also works in music and photography, founded the arts collective and festival Elham to develop and showcase multimedia in Bahrain. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2013 Resident
fiction writer, translator
Yui TANIZAKI (fiction writer, translator; Japan) is the author of the novel Maiochiru Mura (2009), which garnered her the 2007 Bungagukai Prize for New Writers.Her stories and essays are featured in numerous literary magazines; her translations include Kiran Desai’s Inheritance of Loss and Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad. She participates courtesy of the Japan Foundation.
2013 Resident
fiction writer, poet
Craig CLIFF(fiction writer, poet; New Zealand) is the author of the short story collection A Man Melting, which won Best First Book in the 2011 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. His stories, poems, and non-fiction have appeared in print and online in New Zealand, Australia, and the UK. He writes a column for The Dominion Post about his double life as a writer and public servant in Wellington, where he works as a policy analyst for the Ministry of Education. The Mannequin Makers (2013) is his first novel. He participates courtesy of Creative New Zealand.
2013 Resident
fiction writer
KIM Kyung Uk (fiction writer; South Korea) is the award-winning author of six short story collections including [Is Leslie Chung Dead?] (2005), [Risky Reading] (2008) and [God Has No Grandchild] (2011), and six novels, among them [The Golden Apple] (2002), [Kingdom of Thousand Years] (2007), [Like a Fairy Tale] (2010) and [What is Baseball?] (2012). He teaches creative writing at Korea National University of Arts. He participates courtesy of the Arts Council Korea.
2013 Resident
fiction writer, poet
Nada FARIS (fiction writer, poet; Kuwait) is the author of the collections Before Young Adult Fiction and Artemis and Other Poems. Her short stories, poems and articles are featured in Kuwaiti magazines and newspapers, and have been anthologized in the Norton Anthology of Hint Fiction. She is completing her MA in Comparative Literature at Kuwait University. She participates courtesy of Kuwait Ministry of Youth.
2013 Resident
fiction writer, playwright, screenwriter
Whiti HEREAKA (playwright, novelist, screenwriter; New Zealand) has written and produced eight plays for stage and radio, as well as the short film Unclaimed Luggage. Her debut novel The Graphologist’s Apprentice was shortlisted for the 2011 First Book in the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Asia/Pacific region); her second novel, Bugs, will be published later this year. She is a two-time winner of the Best New Play by a Maori Playwright. Her participation is made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2013 Visitor
fiction writer, non-fiction writer, scholar
DAI Fan / 戴凡 (nonfiction and fiction writer, scholar; China) is a 2012-13 Fulbright Visiting Research Scholar in the Nonfiction Writing Program at University of Iowa. She writes in both Chinese and English, with four collections of essays in Chinese, and the novel Butterfly Lovers in English. Her work in English has appeared in Drunken Boat and Asia Literary Review. She is a professor of linguistics, and the director of the Center for Creative Writing of the School Foreign Languages at Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou. She teaches one of the very few creative writing courses in English as a second language in China.
2014 Resident
fiction writer, playwright
Kinana ISSA (fiction writer, playwright; Syria) is the author of Windows, a collection of six short stories that have been adapted for a multimedia theatrical play, of a script for the interactive sound installation Gardens Speak and of scripts for five films. She has worked as a translator, organized filmmaking workshops and screening events; and as a freelance journalist for AP and Al Jazeera Children; currently she is an editor at The Syria Campaign. Her participation is made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2014 Resident
fiction writer
Enrique SERRANO (fiction writer; Colombia) is the author of the books La marca de España (1997), De parte de Dios (1999), Tamerlán (2003), Donde no te conozcan (2007), El hombre de diamante (2008), A passage to India....from Colombia (2009), and La diosa mortal (2014). He has worked for Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and is an emeritus professor of International Relations and Political Sciences at Del Rosario University in Bogotá. His participation is made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2014 Resident
fiction writer, playwright
Cynthia EDUL (playwright, fiction writer; Argentina). Edul’s plays Miami, Bonsai Family, The Tour, and A dónde van los corazones rotos have all been produced for the stage; her novel La sucesión [The Succession] appeared in 2012. Edul is the founder and artistic director of the International Platform of Performing Arts Panorama Sur, and the president of Asociación para el Teatro Latinoamericano; she teaches literature at the Universidad de San Andrés. Her participation is made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2014 Resident
fiction writer, journalist, non-fiction writer, poet, translator
Sabata-mpho MOKAE (poet, nonfiction and fiction writer; South Africa) is the author of the poetry collection Escaping Trauma (2012) and the biography The Story of Sol T. Plaatje (2010). His debut novel in Setswana, Ga Ke Modisa [I’m Not My Brother’s Keeper] (2012) won the M-Net Literary Award for Best Novel in Setswana as well as the M-Net Film Award; the youth novella Dikeledi [Tears] was launched in 2014. In 2011 he also won the South African Literary Award in the literary journalism category. He is a columnist and a journalist, and a co-founder of the annual Sol Plaatje Literary Festival. He participates courtesy of the U.S. Consulate General in Cape Town.
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