is the author of Flowering Bullets, which was a runner-up for the 1998 Association of Nigeria Author prize for poetry. He has contributed poems to three anthologies—Trembling Leaves (1999), Cramped Rooms & Open Spaces (1999), and 25 New Nigerian Poets (2000)—and is the featured author of Nejma 4: The Writings of Sunny Ayewanu. Mr. Ayewanu is the president of the Association of West African Young Writers, one of Nigeria’s oldest literary associations. He is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
2002
fiction writer, playwright, poet
is the editor of Egoist Magazine, and the author of several screenplays, including Truth or Dare (2001) which won the national contest for Best Screenplay on Channel One. More than fifty of her poems, short stories, and essays have appeared in literary magazines and other periodicals. She is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
2002
critic, poet, translator
is an art curator and the editor of the Jakarta literary journal “Prosa” (Prose). Winner of the national “Sanggar Minum Kopi Bali Award” for poetry, Mr. Prasetyo has recently published two volumes of art criticism, translations of Bharati Mukherjee and Octavio Paz, and his own selected poems, entitled Mahasukka (2000). He is participating courtesy of the Open Society Institute.
2002
poet
is director of the Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing and Research Center at De La Salle University. She is the recipient of the Philippines 1987 and 1999 National Book Awards for Poetry; her books include Dreamweavers: Selected Poems 1976-1986 (1987); Ochre Tones: Poems in English and Cebuano (1999); and, most recently, A Life Shaped by Music (2001). She is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
2002
poet
is perhaps his country’s most promising poet. Jorge Amado has called him one of the greatest young Brazilian poets. Mr.Matos’s collection Ladies and Gentlemen: the Dawn was awarded the Jorge Amado Foundation Prize, and published by the same institution. The collection No Acampamento Das Sombras (At the Camp of Shadows) won the Xerox Award of Brazilian Literature, the most prestigious university literature award in Brazil. A translator from English and Slovenian, and an invitee to some of Europe’s most important literary festivals, including Druskininkai, Vilenica, and GM Hopkins, he is also editing the complete works of Dr. Duarte, one of the mentors of the “Tropicalia” and “New Cinema” movements. Mr. Matos is participating courtesy of the U.S. State Department.
2002
poet
is a professor at Diego Portales University, a regular contributor to well-known magazines, and a dynamic promoter of poetry, and the winner, in 2002, of the prize “El Vina Y La Poesia,” sponsored by Fundación Pablo Neruda and El Mercurio Newspaper. Besides his three collections of poetry, he has edited the Anthology of Chilean Poetry (1999), and surveyed his country’s poetic landscape in his Panorama of Modern Chilean Poetry (2001). He is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
2002
fiction writer, poet
has written thirteen books about, in his words, “the daily life of village people and what they are fighting for.” A former magazine and newspaper editor, and a founding member of four magazines as well as the Lao Writers Association, Mr. Bounthanong is at work on a new novel about a young woman who leaves the rice fields to face life in the city. He is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
2002
fiction writer, poet
published her debut novel Persian Brides in 1995. Translated into 15 languages, including English, (George Braziller, NY, 1997, translation Yael Lotan), Persian Brides won the Yizhak Vinner Prize in Israel, The Golden and Platinium Awards, and The Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Award in London. In 1997, her television script “Shuly's Fiancé” was directed by Doron Zabari, and won The Israeli Academy Award as the year’s best drama. Strand Of a Thousand Pearls, her second novel, was published in Israel at 1999, translated into 13 languages (Random House Publishing, NY, 2002, translation Yael Lotan), and also received great acclaim, winning the Golden and Platinium Awards, as well as the Eshkol Award. Ms. Rabinyan is now working on a third novel. She is participating courtesy of the US-Israel Educational Foundation.
2002
poet
(toh-mahs boot-kooss; poet; Lithuania b. 1975, Klaipeda) is an architect who gradutated in 1999 from Vilnius Gedimino Technical University with a Masters of Science Degree. Under the penname Slombas, he has authored numerous translations and original collections of poetry, his most recent being Kas Bos Parasyta Kaip Siandien (How Today Will Be Written, 2001). He is also a bookmaker, designer, and editor-publisher at “Vario Burnos” (Copper Mouths, 1992 – ) which Mr. Butkus calls “a workshop of concepts.” With his sister, and friends in the trade, he publishes poetry chapbooks. The latest was The Frankfurt Chapbooks, a set of 10 poetry chapbooks by Lithuanian poets. His residence is the “Amber-chamber,” on the outskirts of Klaip_da, and he is participating in the program courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
2002
poet
founded “Sandratra,” an association of young Malagasy poets, and joined with others to found the Malagasy National Committee of ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites). In addition to his work as a poet—Mr. Rajaonarison has authored many poetry collections, including Voyage Sur Les Hautes Terres (Trip to the Highlands, 2002)—he makes translations, contributes to local newspapers, and often appears on radio and television programs. He is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
2002, 2007 40th Anniversary Guest
poet
(poet; China b. 1963, Xu Zhou) is a vice-professor of western literature and English language at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Elected in 1996 to the board of directors of the Chinese Poets’ Association, Xi Chuan (pen name of Mr. Liu Jun) has published four collections of poems, most recently Water Stains (2001), in addition to a play and translations. His poetry has been widely anthologized and translated into more than ten languages. Among his many prizes is the prestigious Lu Xun Prize for literature in 2001. He is participating courtesy of the Freeman Foundation.
2002, 2003 Alumna/Alumnus
poet
has been deeply involved in preserving the heritage of Malay culture, particularly through his writing. As a journalist with "The Star," Malaysia's largest circulation English newspaper, Mr. Khoo has written many articles about the arts and traditions of Malaysia. Currently, Mr. Khoo is working to establish a publishing firm that would translate literary works into Malay in the next two years he will publish five new books of his own--works of translation, criticism, and original poetry.
2002
poet
holds a PhD from Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun. She is an adjunct professor at the Special Education Academy in Warsaw. Ms. Kielar’s poetry has appeared in many journals in Poland, Germany, and the U.S. In Den Rillen Eisiger Shunden (2000) won Germany’s Herman Lenz Preis. She is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
2002
poet
is the author of Testing the Silence (1997) and the co-editor of two poetry anthologies. His poems and critical essays have appeared in a number of magazines, journals, and anthologies. Mr. Pang serves on a number of literary committees and arts councils and as the editor for several online literary websites, including The Poetry Billboard (www.poetrybillboard.com), which features Singapore writers. He is participating courtesy of the Singapore National Arts Council.
2002
editor, poet
is the Project Coordinator of Culture and Science at the Qattan Foundation, and an editor at the Palestinian House of Poetry in Ramallah. Published in many magazines and journals, he is the author of Waj Al Zujaj (The Pain of Glass, 2001) and a contributor to Dueof An-Naar Ad-Da’Emoun, a joint publication of poetry for 13 young Palestinian poets. He is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
1995, 2003 Alumna/Alumnus
poet
(poet, Netherlands, b. 1950; IWP 1995) studied Dutch language and literature, specializing in medieval Dutch courtly lyrics (of several hundred works in this genre, most are from the 14 th century). Since 1990 she has focused on her own poetry, publishing six books with her primary publisher, Querido (Amsterdam): Raveslag, 1989 (The Beat of the Raven's Wing); Onder het hart , 1992 (literally, Under the heart or Pregnancy); Het Hotel, 1994 (The Hotel); Het geschenk//De maker, 1996 (The Gift//The Maker); Elektron, muon, tau , 2000, which is a book of sonnets, partly bilingual American-English and Dutch (all sonnets written in both languages by the poet), and YO! de liefde, 2003 (Wow! it's love). She has taught Creative Writing with American Studies (University of Groningen) and is currently writing an essay on Vodou (voodoo) as a conception of reality.
2000, 2003 Alumna/Alumnus
playwright, poet
writes under the pen name Hwang JiWoo. He is professor and chair of the Department of Playwriting at the Korean National University of Arts. He led a new wave of deconstructionist poetry in the 1980s, which was part of the new "rhetoric of resistance" in Korean literature. His subsequent work is described as embodying a native spirit, with its Korean Zen Buddhist traditions interwoven with paradox, vitality and wit. He is the author of six poetry collections, among them Even the Birds Leave the Land (1983), A Lotus in the Crab's Eye (199), I'll Sit Alone in a Darkened Pub (1998); four plays, including A Diary on the Fat Sofa (staged in 1994), Thirty Days in Prison, staged in 1999), and Bride May (2000). Hwang Jaewoo studied aesthetics and art history at Seoul National University. His education was interrupted by a forced enlistment in the army following his imprisonment for student activism against the military dictatorship. His work has received numerous national awards, including the Contemporary Literature Prize of 1991 and the DaeSan Foundation Prize in 1999. Recently, he published a play, A Materialistic Man (2003), and a translation of his poetry, Even Birds Leave the World (trans. Christopher Merrill and Won-Chung Kim), is forthcoming from White Pine Press.
2002, 2003 Alumna/Alumnus
poet
has been deeply involved in preserving the heritage of Malay culture, particularly through his writing. As a journalist with "The Star," Malaysia's largest circulation English newspaper, Mr. Khoo has written many articles about the arts and traditions of Malaysia. Currently, Mr. Khoo is working to establish a publishing firm that would translate literary works into Malay in the next two years he will publish five new books of his own--works of translation, criticism, and original poetry.
2003 Resident
critic, poet, translator
(b. 1958, Choongju) is editor of the two most influential literary magazines in Korea: Spirit & Expression and People Loving Poetry. The first magazine deals with multiple genres of literature while the latter is dedicated solely to poetry. He also manages PoemCafe (www.poemcafe.com), a global network of poets which began in 2000 and now has more than 90 members worldwide. Mr. Jeong majored in modern Korean poetry, and received his Ph.D. at Kyeonghee University in Seoul. He has published three books of poems: The Appointment with a Stranger (1990), Sad Santa Fe (1994), and Nana Stories (1999). He also has a collection of essays titled Two Reports about Hell (1995). His next collection of poems will be out in late 2003. He is participating courtesy of the Korean Culture and Art Foundation.
2003 Resident
poet
( poet; Bosnia and Herzegovina, b. 1970, Sarajevo) received a degree in history from Sarajevo University, as well a post-graduate degree in archaeology from the University in Zagreb, Croatia. He currently works as an archaeologist at Sarajevo's National Museum, specializing in the Bosnian Mediaeval period. His first book of poems, Orao (The Eagle , 1995) came out of his experience as a front-line defender of Sarajevo in the Bosnian army and was published under the auspices of a series entitled, "Sarajevo under the Siege," which presented various works that took shape during the siege from 1992 to 1995. His work has appeared in several anthologies of Bosnian Poetry, including Scar on the Stone (ed. Chris Agee, 1998). Mr. Sijarić is currently working on a novel and a screenplay. He is participating courtesy of a CEC/ArtsLink fellowship.
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