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.
2022 Fall Resident
activist, fiction writer, journalist, poet
Edson INCOPTÉ (fiction writer, poet, journalist, activist; Guinea-Bissau) has an extensive resume as organizer and activist in the areas of youth, civic development, and equity, and is the Secretary of PEN Guinea-Bissau and the Writers Association of Guinea-Bissau. His own publications comprise a volume of poetry and one of prose; he has co-edited anthologies of new Guinea-Bissau authors and contributes columns for magazines and radio. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Fall Resident
fiction writer, journalist, playwright, poet
Zaza MUCHEMWA (poet, playwright, arts administrator; Zimbabwe) has had her poetry appear at PEN International and Badilisha Poetry X-change and included in the anthology Zimbabwe Poets for Human Rights; author of the play The IVth Interrogation, she is also an award-winning theater director and producer. Her journalism appears in Index on Censorship Magazine, Povo Magazine and elsewhere. She participates thanks to a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Fall Resident
critic, fiction writer, translator
Hiền TRANG (fiction writer; critic; translator; Vietnam) is an author of two novels, two collections of stories and one of literary essays. Her most recent titles, both award-winning, are Chopin biến mất [Chopin vanishes] (2022] and Giấc mộng lang thang trên đồng cỏ úa [Dreams of wandering in withered fields] (2018). She works as a book, music, film, and pop culture critic, with columns in major newspapers and magazines, and regularly translates from English. Her participation was made possible by a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Fall Resident
fiction writer, scholar
Fátima VILLALTA (fiction writer, researcher; Nicaragua) is the author of Danzaré sobre su tumba [I will dance on his grave] (2011), which won the Nicaraguan Writers Center Narrative Prize and is on its 5th edition. Currently a Mexico-based researcher, she is preparing a book of stories about fictional moments in Nicaragua’s history. Her participation is courtesy the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Fall Resident
fiction writer
Marcel OKOU (fiction; Benin) published in 2021 his first novel, For So Long Now. An English teacher by profession, he is an advocate for youth literacy and the English language in Benin. His participation was made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Fall Resident
editor, fiction writer, translator
Qi Jin Nian七堇年 (fiction writer, non-fiction writer, translator, PRC) has published a dozen titles, ranging from travel literature to speculative fiction, most recently . 无梦之境 [The Eye Phone Age] (2018). Her 2013 novel 平生欢 [The Ember of Time] won the Peoples’ Literature Award for Best Novel; her stories have appeared in China’s top literary magazines. She has also edited literary journals and translated from the English. Her participation was made possible by the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.
2022 Fall Resident
fiction writer
Cherie JONES (fiction; Barbados) was a finalist for UK’s 2021 Women’s Prize in Fiction for her first novel How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House, now published in the UK, U.S., and in French and German translations. Her first story collection, The Burning Bush Women & Other Stories, appeared in 2004; other short fiction came out in Feminist Wire and elsewhere, and was broadcast on BBC. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Exeter. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State has provided the grant for her participation.
2022 Fall Resident
fiction writer, filmmaker, playwright
Briar GRACE-SMITH (filmmaker, screenwriter, playwright, fiction writer; New Zealand) is of Ngā Puhi (Māori) descent. In 2018, she was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her contribution to stage, television, and screen; in 2017, she was recognized with Te Tohu Toi Kē a Te Waka Toi for her contribution to Māori arts. She is the author or co-author of eight stage plays, a collaborator on many TV programs and the director or co-director of six short films and features, most recently Cousins (2021). Her participation was made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Fall Resident
fiction writer, poet, publisher
Safinah Danish ELAHI (fiction writer, poet; Pakistan) is a lawyer by training. She is the author of the poetry collection The Unbridled Romance of Love and Pain (2019) and two novels, most recently Eye on the Prize (2020), which has since been turned into a TV film. She also contributes to Pakistani newspapers and magazines, and is the founder of Reverie Publishers, whose goal it is to guide the country’s emerging Anglophone writers. Her participation was made possible by a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Fall Resident
fiction writer, playwright, poet, scholar
Endalegeta KEBEDE እንዳለጌታ ከበደ (fiction writer, poet, playwright, researcher; Ethiopia) is the author of over a dozen novels, stories, poems and staged plays. Among his titles are ከጥቁር ሰማይ ስር [Under The Dark Sky], የቃቄ ወርድወት እምቢ [The Defiant Woman], and በዓሉ ግርማ፡- ሕይወቱና ሥራዎቹ [Baalu: His Life and Works]. With a PhD in Folklore Studies, he has been an arts director at the Ethiopia Academy of Science, and the General Secretary of Ethiopian Writers Association. He is also the founder and manager of the Zagol Book Bank. He participates courtesy of the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa.
2022 Fall Resident
fiction writer, performance artist, poet, visual artist
Jamie Marina LAU 劉劍冰 (fiction, poetry, performance; Australia) has published Pink Mountain on Locust Island (2018) and Gunk Baby (2021), which garnered her a number of awards; her stories, nonfiction and poetry have appeared in Meanjin, Cordite Poetry Review, Voiceworks and elsewhere. She also works with digital arts and music/sound composition. Her residency is supported by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Fall Resident
editor, fiction writer, journalist
Mashiul ALAM মশিউল আলম (journalist, fiction writer, translator; Bangladesh) has published 12 novels and novellas, and eight collections of short stories; among the titles are Tanusreer Songey Dwitiyo Raat [Second Night with Tanusree] (2000), Mangsher Karbar [The Meat Market] (2002), Abedalir Mrittur Por [After Abedali's Death] (2004), and Pakistan (2011). Among his many published stories, “Milk” was awarded the 2019 Himal South Asian Short Story Prize; a collection of his stories, in Shabnam Nadiya's translation, won a 2020 PEN/Heim Translation Fund grant. He has translated Russian classics into Bengali. In 2019, he was awarded the debut Sylhet Mirror Prize for Literature. His participation was made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the US Department of State
2022 Spring Resident
fiction writer, scholar, translator
Angel IGOV Ангел Игов (novelist, translator, scholar; Bulgaria). teaches English literature and Translation at Sofia University. He is the author of three novels, among them Фини прахови частици [Particulate Matter] (2017), shortlisted for the Novel of the Year Award; Кротките [The Meek] (2015), whose German translation shared the 2020 HKW International Literary Prize; Кратка повест за срама (2011), appearing in the US as A Short Tale of Shame (2013); and two collections of short stories. Igov translates contemporary British and American prose and poetry. His participation was made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Spring Resident
fiction writer
Jidanun LUEANGPIANSAMUT จิดานันท์ เหลืองเพียรสมุท (fiction writer; Thailand) has published more than 20 novels, largely in the sci-fi and romance genres. The youngest-ever winner, in 2017, of the Southeast Asian Writers Award, she specializes in dystopian and LGBT themes, and YA literature. Her novel เฟื่องนคร [City of Stars] has been translated into English and Chinese, and will be the basis of a TV series. Her participation was made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Spring Resident
editor, fiction writer, publisher, scholar
Abdelaziz ERRACHIDI عبد العزيز الراشدي (fiction and non-fiction; Morocco) is a professor of Arabic literature at Ibn Tofaïl University in Kenitra and the director of the publishing house AlKassaba. Among his numerous novels and story collections are [Body of clouds] (2018), [Kitchen of Love] (2013), [Foreigners at my Table] (2009) and [Childhood of a Frog] (2005). A recipient of many awards including the Al Sharjah Arabic Novel Prize, Egypt's Sakyat Essaw Prize and UAE’s Ibn Battuta Prize for his 2014 travel book [Sindbad of Sahara], he has had his works translated widely. He participates courtesy of funding from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Spring Resident
editor, fiction writer, publisher
Walid HAJAR RACHEDI (fiction writer, publisher, screenwriter; France) is the co-founder and managing editor of the on-line magazine Frictions; Épidémiques [Epidemics], a fiction podcast he co-produced, was shortlisted for the 2020 Paris Podcast Festival. His debut novel Qu’est-ce que j’irais faire au paradis [Whatever Would I Do in Paradise] appeared in early 2022. His participation was made possible by the U.S. Embassy in Paris.
2022 Spring Resident
editor, fiction writer, journalist
Yasser ABDEL HAFEZ ياسر عبد الحافظ (novelist, journalist, editor; Egypt) is the author of three novels: [On the Occasion of Life] was longlisted for the 2008 Arabic Booker; The Book of Safety, the winner of the Banipal Translation Prize (English translation Robin Moger) appeared in 2017; the third, [Platitude], is forthcoming. With a long career in journalism, Abdel Hafez is the managing editor of the literary magazine Akhbar al-Adab. He lives in Cairo. His participation was made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Spring Resident
editor, fiction writer
Khadija Abdalla BAJABER (fiction writer, editor: Kenya) has had writing published in Enkare Review, A Long House, Lolwe and Down River Road, among other publications. An associate editor for Sahifa Journal, she was, in 2018, the winner of the new Graywolf Press Africa Prize for her debut novel The House of Rust. Her participation was made possible by the Paul and Hualing Nieh Engle Fund.
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