THAWDA AYE LEI (fiction, nonfiction; Myanmar), a graduate of the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, is a journalist-turned-advocate. She is also the author of three novels and a story collection [The Borderless Cloud], and the founder of the online magazine Myat shu. Thawda Aye Lei's participation was made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2019 Resident
fiction writer, filmmaker, playwright
Santiago LOZA (drama, fiction; Argentina) is author of over 20 plays, collected in three volumes, and of two novels. His first feature, Extraño [Stranger], won Best Picture at the 2003 Rotterdam Film Festival, and was followed by seven features and documentaries; most recently, Breve historia del planeta verde [Brief Story from the Green Planet] got the Teddy Award at the 2019 Berlin Film Festival. Loza participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2019 Resident
fiction writer, poet
Batsirai CHIGAMA (poetry, fiction; Zimbabwe) has been a teacher of performance and creative writing workshops for over two decades. Her first poetry collection, Gather the Children, won the 2019 Outstanding First Creative Published Work from the National Arts Merits Awards in Zimbabwe. She participates courtesy the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2021 Resident
activist, fiction writer, poet, scholar
Diana DEL ÁNGEL (fiction writer, journalist, poet, scholar, activist; Mexico) is the author of Vasija [Vessel] (2013), Procesos de la noche [Processes of the night] (2017) and Barranca [Ravine] (2018), as well as of critical writing in print and digital media; she has also translated poetry from the Nahuatl. A regular participant in contemporary poetry workshops in Mexico, she has been the recipient of fellowships and residencies in Mexico, USA, and Canada. Her participation is made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the US Department of State.
2021 Resident
editor, fiction writer, journalist, playwright, screenwriter
Alexandra K* (KATSAROU) Αλεξάνδρα Κ* (fiction, drama, screenwriting, journalism; Greece) has collaborated with the National Theatre of Greece, the Greek National Opera and other major cultural institutions. Ηer 2018 play Επαναστατικές Μέθοδοι για τον Καθαρισμό της Πισίνας σας [Revolutionary Ways to Clean Your Swimming Pool] has been translated widely, and received a Eurodram 2019 Prize; her most recent play [Milk, Blood], based on Medea, premiered at the ancient theater of Epidaurus. She is a regular contributor to Greek magazines and newspapers. Her participation was made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2021 Resident
fiction writer, playwright
Sarah BLAU שהרה בלאו (fiction writer, playwright; Israel) has had her short stories published in many anthologies in Israel and abroad. Among her novels are [The Book of Creation] (2007), [Those Well-Raised Girls] (2012), [Stake] (2014) and The Others (2018; English translation 2021); among her plays are [The Last One] (2004), [Thy Shall Write] (2014) and [Rhinoplasty] (2105). She is the recipient of the 2017 Bar-Ilan University Alumni Achievement Award, and of the 2015 Prime Minister’s Prize for Hebrew Literature. She participates courtesy of Fulbright Israel.
2021 Resident
fiction writer
Salha OBAID صالحة عبيد (fiction; UAE) published her first story collection, [Alzheimer],in 2010; it was followed by [Postman of Happiness] (2012) and [iPad of Life in the Manner of Zorba] (2014); the collection [An Implicitly White Lock of Hair] (2015) won the 2016 Al Owais Award for Creative Writing. Her first novel [Maybe It’s a Joke] appeared in 2018. A member of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority Council and of the Association of Emirati Women Writers, in 2017 she was awarded the Young Emiratis Prize. Her participation was made possible by a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2021 Resident
fiction writer
KIM Hena 김혜나 (fiction writer, South Korea) studied Korean language and literature at the University of Cheong-ju. Her first novel, [Jerry], was the 2010 winner of Today’s Author Prize; the second, [Junk], was long listed for the 2013 Dong-In Prize of Literature; [The Goldstar Telephone] received the 2016 Soorim Prize of Literature. She has also published a book of essays on yoga, [What Makes Me Breathe]. She participates courtesy of Arts Council Korea.
2021 Resident
fiction writer, playwright
Candace CHONG Mui Ngam 莊梅岩 (playwright, screenwriter, translator; Hong Kong) has, apart from writing drama, also collaborated in musical theatre and opera as writer and librettist. Selected by the South China Morning Post as one of Hong Kong’s 25 most inspirational and influential women, she is a six-times winner of the Hong Kong Drama Awards, the recipient of a Best Artist Award (Drama) by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, and of a number of international honors. Her plays have been performed on European and American stages, translated, and published. She participates courtesy of the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation.
2021 Resident
fiction writer
Dominika SŁOWIK (fiction writer; Poland) is the author of two novels, Atlas Doppelganger (2015), finalist for the 2016 Gdynia Literary Prize, and Zimowla (2019), which won the national award Paszport Polityki 2020 alongside other honors; Samosiejki, a collection of stories, appeared in 2021. She also writes reviews, and a regular literary column. Słowik's current work is dedicated to the Anthropocene and climate change. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2021 Resident
fiction writer
Muthi NHLEMA (fiction; Malawi) writes speculative fiction. His novella Ta O’reva was shortlisted for Best Novella at the inaugural 2017 Nommo Awards for African Speculative Fiction; other work has also won his country's leading literary prize, FMB-MAWU Short Story Prize, and been long-listed for the Writivism Short Story Prize. The story "One Wit’ This Place" opened the 2016 Imagine Africa 500 anthology. His participation was made possible by the U.S. Embassy in Lilongwe (Malawi).
2021 Resident
activist, fiction writer, translator
Edwige DRO (translator, activist, writer; Côte d’Ivoire) is a co-founder of the collective Abidjan Lit and the founder of 1949, “a library of women’s writings from Africa and the black world.” She has facilitated, judged, and translated for many writing competitions, and coordinated the Francophone program of Writivism in Uganda. Her stories and essays, published in magazines like Popula, This is Africa and the Johannesburg Review of Books, have been widely anthologized. She participates courtesy of the U.S. Embassy in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire).
2021 Visitor
activist, editor, fiction writer, non-fiction writer, poet
The recipient of a Caine Prize, a Commonwealth Prize for Best First Book, and the Windham-Campbell Prize for Literary Achievement, Helon HABILA is the author of six volumes of fiction and non-fiction, the editor of several collections of writing, and a publisher. His most recent novel is Travelers (2019). The first African Writing Fellow at the University of East Anglia, he was the inaugural Chinua Achebe Fellow at Bard College; his current appointment is at George Mason University, where Professor Habila teaches in the disciplines of Creative Writing, English, and Global Affairs. An IWP 2004 alum, he returns as our 2021 Ida Beam Distinguished Visitor.
2021 Visitor
activist, editor, fiction writer, journalist, non-fiction writer, physician, poet
IWP '05 alumna Ma Thida is a Burmese surgeon, writer, poet, human rights activist and former prisoner of conscience. Among her nine books are The Sunflower (1999), The Roadmap (2011) and the memoir Sanchaung, Insein, Harvard (2012). Recently elected as Chair of The Writers in Prison committee of PEN International, she is the founder and past president of PEN Myanmar and past board member of PEN International; in 2016 she was the first recipient of the Václav Havel Foundation’s “Disturbing the Peace” award. At present (2021), she is a visiting research associate at Yale’s Southeast Asia Studies program.
2022 Fall Resident
children's author, editor, fiction writer, journalist, translator
Pavla HORÁKOVÁ (novelist, non-fiction writer, journalist, translator; Czech Republic) is the author of five novels, including a children’s trilogy, and two nonfiction titles. Her widely translated Teorie podivnosti [A Theory of Strangeness] won the 2019 Magnesia Litera Award for best work of Czech fiction; Srdce Evropy [The Heart of Europe] was in a national critics’ poll voted among the best books of 2021. A recipient of two awards for her literary translations, she also has a long career in radio journalism. Her participation is possible thanks to a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Fall Resident
fiction writer, non-fiction writer, scholar, translator
KANG Byoung Yoong 강병융, КАН БЁН ЮН (fiction writer, essayist, translator, scholar; South Korea) is currently the Korean Studies Program Chair at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; previously, he has taught in Korea and in Russia. His stories and his ten novels—most recently 나는 빅또르 최다 [I Am Victor Choi]—often engage parodically with classics of world fiction. He is also and essayist and the author of scholarly works on modern Korean and Russian fiction, and on philosophy. His participation was made possible by Arts Council Korea (ARKO).
2022 Fall Resident
children's author, fiction writer, poet
Yahya ASHOUR يحيى عاشور (fiction, poetry; Palestinian Territories) has authored a children’s book and, in 2018, a collection of poetry entitled [You Are a Window, They Are Clouds]. His poems and award-winning stories have been anthologized and appeared in newspapers and magazines in Palestinian Territories and internationally. He has taught creative writing and literacy skills to both children and adults at various community organizations in Gaza. He participates through a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affair at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Fall Resident
fiction writer, poet
CHUN Sue 春树 (fiction writer, poet; PRC/Germany) became widely known with her iconic 2002 novel Beijing Doll, translated into many languages. She has since published five additional novels—most recently the autobiographical [Milk Teeth] (2019)—three poetry collections, and books of essays. A frequent presence at literary festivals and arts residencies in Europe, she also publishes in Chinese literary magazines. Her participation is courtesy of the Paul and Hualing Engle Fund.
2022 Fall Resident
fiction writer
CHU He-Chih 朱和之 (fiction; Taiwan). The author of eight novels, largely concerned with history and Taiwan's colonial legacies, Chu He-Chih is the first recipient of the Romain Rolland Prize for his novel 南光 [Aura of the South] (2021), given by Taiwan's Ministry of Culture. He has also been twice awarded the Hsing Yun Award for Global Chinese Literature, for 樂土 [The Land of Paradise] (2016) and for 風神的玩笑 [Chiang Wen-Ye, the Singer of No Homeland] (2020). He participates courtesy of the Ministry of Culture of Taiwan.
2022 Fall Resident
fiction writer, scholar
Nana ABULADZE ნანა აბულაძე (fiction writer, scholar; Georgia) is the author of two books: the novel აკუმი (Akumi) which received two awards for the Best Literary Debut of the Year, and მესა სოლისტი ქალებისა და შერეული გუნდისათვის [The New Perception (A Mass for Women Soloists and a Mixed Choir)], a collection of stories about female biblical characters. She is working on a study of gender and authorship in Georgian literature. Her participation is made possible by an anonymous gift to IWP.
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