is a professor and director of the Bolivian National University Institute for the Study of the Humanities. His works have received international recognition: in 1991 he received the first prize in radio playwriting granted by the Westdeutscher Rundfunk Koln (WDR) of Germany; his work was later broadcast in Spanish, German, and Flemish. Among his other honors are the first prize at the national Franz Tamayo poetry competition in 1988. He is the author of five literary works, primarily poetry, with a new collection in progress. Dr. Orihuela earned the Ph.D. in literature from the University of California, Davis. Since 1982 he has taught creative writing, Latin American literature, 18th-century American literature, and playwriting. He was visiting professor at the University of Oregon in Eugene, and previously taught at the National University of San Andres in La Paz.
is a Reader in Commonwealth literature in the Department of English at the University of Poona. His publications include a collection of poems, Slide Show (Leeds: Peepal Tree Books, 1992); short stories, One Day I Locked My Flat in Soul-City (Delhi: Rupa & Co., 1995); plays, The Wisest Fool and Other Plays (Bombay: The Brown Critique, 1996). He has edited several anthologies and books of criticism. He earned his Ph.D. in comparative literature at the University of Bombay, with a thesis on the attitudes toward love and nature of Whitman and Tagore. He received the Nehru Centenary Post-doctoral Fellowship from the Government of India, and a travel fellowship from India's National Academy of Letters. Dr. Rao is currently at work on a biography of the Indian poet Nissim Ezekiel. He attends the IWP as a fellow of the AT&T Foundation.
is one of a few Singaporean writers with an international following. His work has been widely anthologized in Asia, and his many distinctions include the Epoch Poetry Award (Taiwan, 1974); the China Times' Literary Award for non-fiction (1981); the Southeast Asia Writers Award (1984), the Cultural Medallion for literature from the Singapore Government in 1986, and the ASEAN Award in 1993. Dr. Wong is associate professor of Chinese literature at the National University of Singapore. He earned the Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin and attended the International Writing Program in 1985. He has published six poetry collections, most recently, Poems of Mountains and Waters. He and his wife, poet Dan Ying, are on sabbatical from NUS, and will serve as visiting scholars at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of California at Santa Barbara.
is associate professor of philosophy at the Vilnius Pedagogical University, where he also directs a writing project. He graduated from Vilnius University with a diploma in psychology and philosophy, and earned the Ph.D. in philosophy in 1993. He holds a diploma for postgraduate studies in history and the philosophy of art from the Central European University of Prague. The author of five books of poetry, his works have enjoyed wide distribution: Zalias Paukistis ("The Green Bird", 1984) had a run of 30,000 copies), 20,000 copies of Rugsejo Zvaigzoe ("The Star of September"); and 25,000 copies of Naktis ("Night"). At least forty pop songs have been set to music from his texts. He writes for adults as well as children, and has taken part in the country-wide "Poetry Spring" Festival since 1982. Dr. Degesys is at the IWP through a grant from the US Information Agency.
is a lecturer at the Chinese Language Proficiency Centre of the National University of Singapore. One of the best known women poets in the international Chinese community, Dan Ying was the 1995 recipient of the Southeast Asian Writers' Award (SEAWrite) and Singapore's National Book Development Council Book Award for Chinese Poetry in 1979 (for Poems of Taiji) and 1994 (for Ages on My Hairs). From the time she published her first two poetry collection in the late 1960s, Dan Ying's work has been widely anthologized, most notably in Kenneth Rexroth's The Orchid Boat: Women Poets of China (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1972). She and her husband, poet and critic Wong Yoon Wah, are at the IWP on a sabbatical grant from the National University of Singapore.
(b. Hungary) is editor at the Aoss Romboid Association of Writers, and a well-known poet and translator. She has published seven books of poetry, as well as translations of such poets as Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. The themes of her work focus on the relationships between men and women, and she is particularly interested in poetry written by contemporary American women. Ms. Haugova is a graduate of the Faculty of Agronomy in Bratislava, and is associated with the Slovak P.E.N. Center and the Club of Independent Writers. In addition to Slovak and English she speaks German and Hungarian. She was previously affiliated with the Slovensky Spisovatel Publishing House as editor. Ms. Haugova is an appointee of the USIA.
leads an international workshop for translators and researchers of Hungarian literature. As a young writer confronting the Communist system, he was unable to finish university and worked as a manual laborer for some years before starting a career as translator of Anglo-Saxon literature. Since then, he has been a freelance writer and translator of German and French works, in addition to translating the short fiction of Capote, Updike, Frost, and Ginsberg among others. He founded and co-owned a small publishing house, and worked on the editorial staff of various Hungarian literary reviews. He was the 1984 recipient of the Kassak Prize for Avant Garde Literature, the prestigious Attila Jozsef Prize in 1990, and held a scholarship from the French Ministry in Education in 1991. He is interested in Sufism and its impact on mystical writing. He is a USIA grantee at the IWP.
began publishing poetry in literary magazines in 1989; her first poetry collection, Kufome Lulesh, appeared in 1993, and it received first prize at the Puglia Albania competition. Her volume of poems, Ndodhi ne Shpirt, was published in Tirana in 1995. She has taken part in various poetry competitions, and is a member of the League of Writers and Artists of Albania. She is a literature graduate from the University of Tirana and is currently manager for the poetry program sponsored by the Soros Foundation. Ms. Arapi will assume her IWP fellowship in November. Her residency at the IWP is provided by ArtsLink/Citizen Exchange Council.
founded the KTO Theatre in Krakow in 1977, and during Poland's martial law served as editor-in-chief of a unique, orally-presented literary journal, NaGlos ("Speaking Out"); the magazine now continues in printed form. Dr. Maj is assistant professor of contemporary literature at the Jagiellonian University. He published eight poetry collections, among them Taka wolnosc ("That Sort of Freedom"; MAW, Warsaw, 1980) and Swiatlo ("The Light"; Krakow, 1994). His poetry has been translated into twelve languages and appeared in The Seneca Review and Salmagundi among others. His US translators include Czeslaw Milosz and Stanislaw Baranczak. He received the Koscielscy Foundation Literary Award (Geneva, 1984), the "Solidarnosc" Cultural Award in 1983 and 1984, and the PEN Club poetry award of 1995. The Alfred Jurzykowski Foundation is providing Dr. Maj's support.
is the 1993 recipient of the Zinaida Lazda Award (granted by the US-based Association of Latvians Abroad), and the Klavs Elsbergs Award in 1994, which resulted in the publication of her book, Akskirtie darzi (Uguns Publishing House, Riga) in 1995. Her poems have appeared in numerous publications in her country, including the magazines Draugs, Jauna Gaita, and the newspapers Latvijas Jaunatne, Diena, and Nakts. She has been a member of the Riga Young Writers Association since 1992. Anna Auzina and Gundega Repse are the IWP's first representatives from Latvia. Her participation in the program is through the support of ArtsLink/Citizen Exchange Council.
(poet; born in Asunción, 1954) is considered one of the three most important women writers in Paraguay, and ranks in her nation's top ten among all authors. A freelance journalist for cultural affairs and a professor at the University of the North, Dr. Espinola is a leading force in the study of U. S. literature in Paraguay's institutes of higher education. She has published six books of poetry, one of them a bilingual edition in the United States, as well as numerous scholarly papers on such topics as the intertextual approach to Paraguayan women's literature. Her latest collection is La Estrategia del Caracol, which has been praised as "a sincere manifestation of the affectionate impulse, of sensual fire, decanted with precise intensity." The daughter of a renowned Paraguayan writer, she followed her father's advice to learn an economically secure trade and has a private dental practice. She is participating in the program as a grantee of the US Information Agency.
(poet, essayist, literary critic, Bolivia; born in La Paz, 1972) is a rising young writer whose latest book of poetry Tres nombres para un lugar ('Three Names for a Place') has garnered excellent reviews. Her book reviews, which run in major local newspapers, have a wide following. She has taken part in international literary conferences, including a fellowship to the University of Alicante (Spain), where she led a three-month seminar on Bolivian poetry, and the "Jalla" conference in Argentina (one of the most important annual events in Latin American literature). Ms. Velásquez now teaches at San Andres National University in La Paz, where she is also doing graduate work. She is at the IWP through the US Information Agency.
(poet, Mexico; born in Mexico City, 1958) is deeply engaged in the Mexican cultural scene as a television reporter-journalist, the organizer of many cultural events and literary gatherings, and one of the leading poets of her generation. Among her numerous involvements, Ms. Vidales was previously curator at the National Autonomous University of Mexico's Museum del Chopo and a founder of the newspaper Question. Her poems have appeared in several anthologies both in her country and in the United States. Her publications include these poetry collections: Ensueño ('Illusions'; 1984); Poemario: Balada para un viento suave ('Poems: Ballades for a Gentle Wind'; 1990) Cantos para el guerrero ('Poems for the Warrior'; 1997); and a forthcoming collection of poems for children. She is the first holder of a scholarship from the National Council for Culture and the Arts (CNCA) to write poetry, and is a founding member of the World Association of Women Journalists and Writers (AMPE). She received the BA in journalism from Mexico's National School of Journalism, and has taken various advanced courses in democracy and human rights. The US Information Agency is supporting her IWP participation.
Plaza (born in Caracas, 1962) is director general for the highly respected Rómulo Gallegos Latin American Studies Center (CELARG). Trained in systems engineering at the Simon Bolivar University and a member of the Venezuelan Engineer's Association, Mr. Gutierrez also holds the MA in Latin American literature from SBU; he took several months of English studies at Chapel Hill in North Carolina and at Oxford. His publications include the poetry collection Al Margen de las Hojas ('To the Page Margins'; 1991), which won several awards; and a forthcoming collection, Common Purpose, which received the Third Literary Biennial "Mariano Picon Salas" prize. He is the co-author/editor of two anthologies, and many of his articles have appeared in national newspapers and magazines. Mr. Gutierrez is widely traveled and has participated in numerous literary congresses and workshops. He is a founding member and editor of Aljamia magazine and belongs to the Pequeña Venecia editorial group. Mr. Gutierrez is taking part in the program through the US Information Agency.
(fiction writer, poet and children's author, Malawi; born in Ntcheu, 1971) is considered one of his country's bright and promising writers. His children's novel, Fleeing the War, won the British Council Write a Story competition and was published by Macmillan Malawi in 1996. He is presently editorial assistant for educational materials at the Malawi Institute of Education, acting president of the Malawi Writers Union, and was chairperson of the 1997 Malawi Book Fair & Literary Festival. He also belongs to the Copyright Society of Malawi and the Malawi PEN organization. A teacher by training and freelance journalist, Mr. Sharra has taught in primary schools and contributed articles to various publications and the radio, including the BBC. He is interested in familiarizing himself with US literary history while he is at the University of Iowa. His participation is supported by the US Information Agency.
(born in Central Otago, 1945) is the author of four poetry collections: Heartwood (Caxton Press, 1989); Of Elephants etc (untold press, 1990); The Persistent Levitator (Victoria University Press, 1994), and Still Talking (forthcoming, to be launched at the Christchurch Arts Festival, July 1997). The Persistent Levitator was shortlisted for the New Zealand Book Awards in 1995. Her plays have been performed in theaters in New Zealand and produced on National NZ Radio; Glad and the Angels was winner of the Aoraki Festival Playwriting Competition. Since 1991, Ms. Hall has been the poetry editor of Takahe magazine and currently teaches at Hagley Community College in Christchurch; she directed the Creative Writing Summer School at Canterbury University and taught many writing workshops in Christchurch, Wellington, and Dunedin. She has also performed her poetry at various book festivals, exploring the "communal possibilities of poetry" through collaboration with an Irish uillean pipe player and music composers. Her poems have appeared in numerous anthologies, among them the Oxford Book of New Zealand Poetry (1997). The Arts Council of New Zealand/Toi Aotearoa is providing joint support with the IWP for her participation in the program.
(born in Giza, 1970) is editor and translator at the teletext service of Egyptian television and editor of the Morning News Bulletin, English News Service, of Radio Cairo. He is also founder and editor of the literary magazine Al-Jarad. Mr. Metwalli's publications prove not only his talent but his fresh and challenging voice; in 1992 he received the "Yusuf al-Khal" prize for the best first poetry collection for Once Up 'on a Time, and the 1991 Rimbaud Prize for young poets given by Ibda magazine. His work is said to represent a major shift in contemporary literary values; he holds poetry readings throughout Egypt. He is also active in a local theater group, "Shrapnel," and collaborated with the American cultural affairs office at the 1996 Cairo International Experimental Theater Festival. Once Upon a Time was first published in Arabic in the United Kingdom in 1992; his poetry has also appeared in Lebanese publications and in English translation. He earned the BA in English from Cairo University in 1992 and took courses at the Egyptian Film Institute. The US Information Agency is providing his grant to the program.
(fiction writer, poet, critic, Singapore; born in Singapore, 1949) is a leading figure in the literature of the ASEAN region. Dr. Singh is head of the Division of Literature and Drama at the Singapore National Institute of Education. His books include Singapore Potpourri (1970), Articulations (1972), Twenty Poems (1976), Palm Readings (1986), Critical Engagements (1986), Jaspal + 2 (1997). He has participated in several international literary festivals all over the world. He has also been Writer-in-Residence in many different universities. Forthcoming titles include Catwalking (1997) and Why Make Love Twice (1998). His works have been the subject of serious studies by critics internationally and he is today regarded as a major voice in the Indian Diaspora as well as in Southeast Asia. His participation is supported by the Lee Foundation of Singapore.
(born in Nove Zamky, 1966) is editor of the literary magazine Dotyky and a lecturer at the University of Constantine the Philosopher in Nitra, where he teaches esthetics and literary criticism; he is also working on the encyclopedia Belidiana at the Slovak Academy of Sciences. He has three published books of poetry, Fear of Utopia (1994); Ambit (1995); Autopsy (1997). He is also the translator of Richard Brautigan's The Revenge of the Lawn. He is particularly interested in the translation of modern American poetry, especially the Native American poetry. His other interests include Oriental philosophy and the history of fine arts. Mr. Macsovszky holds the M.A. from the faculties of English Language, the Arts, and Slovak Literature from the University of Constantine. He is at the IWP through the US Information Agency.
(poet, Poland; born in Torun, 1943) is a major Polish poet and a reviewer for the monthly Przeglad Powszechny. She is a graduate of the Nicolaus Copernicus University. Following her literary debut in 1969 with the collection Everyday Skies, she published six books of poetry; the most recent, Kamien przydrozny ('A Roadside Stone', 1993) came out of a publishing house that produced only two books of poetry that year: hers and Zbiegniew Herbert's. It was given the Booksellers' Association prize that year and the prestigious Sep Szarzynski award in 1994. Her work has been translated into eight languages; English translations are forthcoming in the Paris Review and Literary TriQuarterly. She is also the author of two books for children and a novel. Herbert has described her poetry as "superb, mature, rich and bitter fruit, poetry that is both kind and cruel." Ms. Szymanska's participation in the IWP is provided by the Kosciuszko Foundation, which also supported her residency in Berkeley this spring.
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