MA THIDA (fiction writer, physician, activist; b. 1966, Burma) was in medical school when Burma’s military junta shut down the universities. She then served as a health care provider as well as an editor for the non-violent National League for Democracy. Her many short stories containing disguised criticism of the Burmese government led to six years in solitary confinement, without access to reading or writing materials. In 1999 she was pardoned and released on humanitarian grounds. She is now the editor of a youth magazine as well as a surgeon at the Muslim Free Hospital, which treats poor patients at no cost.
2007 Resident
fiction writer, non-fiction writer, physician
has worked as a surgeon in rural areas throughout India. She currently runs a medical center for workers in Maharashtra, and a Learning Centre for their children. She has authored five novels, most recently The Hills of Angheri (2005) and several children’s books. Among her honors is a UNICEF-CBT Award for her children’s novel, Once Upon a Forest. She also writes on healthcare issues for Indian press. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2009 Resident
fiction writer, journalist, physician
is the author of a collection of short stories titled [‘Bent (a Girl)’] (2001) and the prose collection [‘Did You See Me? I Was Walking in the Street’] (2007). Her work has been translated into Italian and English; her artwork is on the cover of several books. A regular columnist for Albilad newspaper since 2003, she is a family physician in Jeddah. She participates courtesy of the William B. Quarton Foundation.
2012 Resident
children's author, fiction writer, physician, translator
Mohib ZEGHAM (fiction writer, translator; Afghanistan) is a cardiologist practicing in Kabul, and the author of two short story collections, three children’s books, and the novels [The Suicide Bomber (Zanmargai ځانمرګی), 2009] and [The Order of the President (Da Olasmesher Farman د ولسمشر فرمان), 2012]. He regularly translates medical articles, children’s literature, and works of psychology into Pashto; he also directs the children’s-book publishing house Mosawer, and is the editor of the cultural magazine Sapida. He participates courtesy of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.
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.
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
journalist, physician, poet, translator
Mohamad NASSEREDDINE (poet, translator, journalist; Lebanon) is a regular contributor to the Al-Akhbar daily, the current vice president of Lebanon PEN, and a professor of Medical Physics at Lebanese University in Beirut. Work from his seven volumes of poetry has been widely translated and anthologized. He participates courtesy the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
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