Harris KHALIQUE (poet, nonfiction writer; Pakistan) is the author of eight poetry collections, including Between You and Your Love (2004), Ishq ki taqveem mein (2006) and Melay mein (2012), which won the 2013 UBL Literary Excellence Award for Urdu poetry. His poems have been anthologized internationally. A campaigner for workers’, women’s, and minority rights in Pakistan and abroad, he contributes regularly to national and international news publications. His participation is made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2015 Resident
fiction writer, non-fiction writer, poet
Rachel ROSE (poet, nonfiction writer; Canada) is a recipient of the 2013 and 2016 Pushcart Prize, and of the Pat Lowther Poetry Award and the Audre Lorde Poetry Award for 2013. Her poetry books include Notes on Arrival and Departure (2005) and Song and Spectacle (2012); her creative nonfiction essays have appeared in a number of anthologies, including Double Lives: Writing and Motherhood. Rose regularly contributes to literary journals and magazines, including the Malahat Review and Prism International. She participates courtesy of the British Columbia Arts Council and Canada Council.
2015 Resident
fiction writer, non-fiction writer, poet
Anas ATAKORA (poet, fiction writer, nonfiction writer; Togo), currently a PhD candidate at Dalhousie University in Canada, has had his third poetry collection, En attendant le poème, appear in early 2015. The upcoming Tante Béa will be his first short story collection. In 2008, Atakora received the ‘Plumes émergentes’ award from the University of Lomé. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2016 Resident
fiction writer, non-fiction writer, screenwriter
Ukamaka OLISAKWE (screenwriter, novelist, nonfiction writer; Nigeria) writes TV scripts (most recently the series “The Calabash”), essays, short stories, and has one novel. Selected in 2014 by the Africa39 Project as one of the continent’s 39 most promising writers under the age of 40, she has had her work appear in the New York Times. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2016 Resident
fiction writer, non-fiction writer, poet
Tetiana TROITSKAYA (fiction writer, poet, nonfiction writer; Ukraine) graduated from the Skovoroda National Pedagogical University in Kharkiv, and now teaches English philology there. Her novel Akvamaryn dlia vodoleyi won the 2012 Oles Honchar Prize. Her participation is made possible by the William B. Quarton Fund through the Cedar Rapids Community Foundation and the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv.
2016 Resident
fiction writer, non-fiction writer
Yusi Avianto PAREANOM (fiction writer, nonfiction writer; Indonesia) the founder of the publishing house Penerbit Banana, has a novel and several collections of short stories, among them Rumah Kopi Singa Tertawa [The Coffee House of the Laughing Lion] (2011). He has also been involved in theatrical productions, films, and other multimedia art ventures. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2016 Resident
fiction writer, non-fiction writer, poet
Legodile ‘Dredd X’ SEGANABENG (poet, fiction and nonfiction writer; Botswana) is a high school art teacher and spoken-word poet, performing regionally in Southern Africa, and across the country of Botswana. A recipient of the Bessie Head Literature Award, he frequently writes on human rights and women’s rights. His first novel, Josie, is being published in 2016. He participates courtesy of the U.S. Embassy in Gaborone.
2016 Resident
fiction writer, non-fiction writer
Carlos PATIÑO PEREDA (fiction writer, nonfiction writer; Venezuela), a lawyer, human rights activist and former president of the national labor union "Sintrainces," has published a collection of stories, [I Will Kill You Twice]. In 2015 his [“Concentric Circles”] won El Nacional’s 70th annual story competition. He is at work on his first novel. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2016 Resident
editor, non-fiction writer, poet, translator
Subodh SARKAR (poet, translator, editor, non-fiction prose writer, India) has published 29 books of poems. Among his honors are the Gangadhar Meher National Award from Sambalpur University, and the Sahitya Academy Award. A former editor of Indian Literature and the president of the Kobita (poetry) Academy, West Bengal, he is currently at work on an autobiography in poetry. His visiting professorship at the University of Iowa is funded by the Nehru-Fulbright Fellowship.
2016 Resident
fiction writer, non-fiction writer, physician
zp (Priya) DALA (fiction writer, nonfiction writer; South Africa) is a physical therapist, a psychologist, and a writer. Her first novel, What About Meera, won the 2015 South African Minara Debut Prize, was shortlisted for the Etisalat Literary Prize, and made the top 15 African novels of 2015 list. A second novel, The Architecture of Loss, is forthcoming in 2017. Her op-ed pieces have appeared in The New York Times and elsewhere. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2016 Resident
fiction writer, non-fiction writer
Khaled ALKHAMISSI خالد الخمیسي (fiction writer, non-fiction writer; Egypt) is the founder and president of the Quena storytelling festival and the Mansoura literary festival. His 2007 collection Taxi: Cabbie Talk has been translated into 21 languages, including English; his novel [Noah’s Ark] appeared in 2009, and was followed, in 2014, by the non-fiction 2011. He is extensively involved in organizing public events to promote Arab and Egyptian literatures, cinemas, and culture. His participation is made possible by the Paul and Hualing Engle Fund.
2016 Resident
fiction writer, non-fiction writer
Galit Dahan CARLIBACH (fiction writer; Israel) is a writer, essayist and creative writing teacher. Her several books include the YA series Arpilea and two novels, [The Locked Garden] and [On the Edge], which won the Prime Minister’s Prize for Hebrew writers. She has also been awarded the National Library’s Pardes Scholarship, and the Acum Prize. She participates courtesy of the United States-Israeli Education Foundation.
2017 Resident
fiction writer, non-fiction writer, poet
Kirmen URIBE (novelist, poet, essayist; Spain). His first novel Bilbao-New York-Bilbao earned him Spain’s 2008 National Fiction Prize, and has been translated into fifteen languages; his poems have appeared in The New Yorker and elsewhere. Elkarrekin esnatzeko ordua [The Hour of Waking Together] was published in 2017. He participates courtesy of the Etxepare Basque Institute.
2017 Resident
critic, non-fiction writer, poet
LAU Stuart 劉偉成 (poet, essayist, critic; Hong Kong) forms his English name by combining the Chinese characters for “study” and “arts.” He has published five poetry collections; the most recent, 陽光棧道有多寬 [How Broad Are the Plank Roads of Sunshine] (2015), won the 13th Hong Kong Biennial Award for Chinese Literature. A publishing manager at Oxford University Press (China), Lau is completing a PhD at Hong Kong Baptist University. He participates courtesy of the Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation.
2017 Resident
fiction writer, non-fiction writer
Audrey CHIN (fiction writer, non-fiction writer; Singapore) has a PhD in Public Policy and worked in investment banking. Her story collection Nine Cuts was shortlisted for the 2016 Singapore Literature Prize; that same year her novel As the Heart Bones Break was a finalist for the Singapore Book Awards. She is the organizer for the Singapore Ladies Asian Literary Book Group, promoting Asian literature in the community. She participates courtesy of the Singapore National Arts Council.
2017 Resident
fiction writer, filmmaker, non-fiction writer, poet, translator
Kristian Sendon CORDERO (poet, fiction writer, essayist, translator, filmmaker; Philippines) writes in Filipino, Bikol and Rinconada, and has translated Borges, Kafka, Wilde and Rilke to these languages. Two of his most recent poetry collections received the 2014 National Book Awards; his debut collection of poetry in his three respective languages won the Madrigal-Gonzales Best First Book Award in 2006. He is the deputy director of the Ateneo de Naga University Press. His participation is courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2017 Resident
fiction writer, non-fiction writer
Julienne VAN LOON (novelist, essayist; Australia) is a research fellow at non/fictionLab of RMIT University in Melbourne. She won the Australian/Vogel’s Award and in 2005 was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize First Book Award for Road Story. Her work, including the recent novel Harmless, has strong creative and cultural connection to Asia, particularly China. Her forthcoming collection The Thinking Woman includes interviews with leading women from across the globe. Her participation is made possible by the Paul and Hualing Engle Fund.
2017 Resident
critic, fiction writer, non-fiction writer, poet, scholar, visual artist
YAN Chung-hsien 顏忠賢 (fiction writer, poet, essayist, art critic; Taiwan) is also a curator, designer, and director, dedicated to a cross-disciplinary approach that integrates the verbal with the visual, and the traditional with the avant-garde. His 24 publications have won him a Taiwan Gold Book novel award, a Taipei Literature Award, and an Asia Weekly Book Award. He is professor of architecture at Shih Chen University in Taipei. His participation is made possible by Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture.
2017 Resident
fiction writer, non-fiction writer
Panashe CHIGUMADZI (novelist, essayist; South Africa/Zimbabwe) is the author of the novel Sweet Medicine, which won the 2016 K. Sello Duiker Literary Award. Her work has appeared in The New York Times,The Guardian, Die Zeit, and elsewhere. A founding editor of Vanguard Magazine, a platform for black women in post-apartheid South Africa, she curated, in 2016, Soweto’s Abantu Book Festival for black readers and writers. Beautiful Hair for a Landless People is her forthcoming book of essays. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2018 Resident
fiction writer, non-fiction writer, poet
Faisal ODDANG (fiction writer, poet, essayist; Indonesia) is the author of three novels and two poetry anthologies. Puya ke puya [From One Heaven to Another] won the 2014 Jakarta Art Council novel competition, and in 2015 Tempo Magazine’s Best Novel prize. His other awards include ASEAN Young Writers Award, Prose Writer of the Year (Tempo Magazine, 2015), and Best Short Story Writers (Kompas Daily, 2014). He is now at work on a translation of the Sulawesi epic La Galigo. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. State Department.
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