Joel TOLEDO (poet, fiction writer, nonfiction writer; Philippines) is the literary editor at The Philippine Free Press and a professor of literature at Miriam College. His reviews and columns have been featured in newspapers and magazines including The Philippine Star and The Manila Times; his creative work has appeared, among other places, in Rogue Poetry Review, Washington Square, Sunday Times Magazine, and P.E.N. 50th Anniversary Anthology of Poetry in English. He is the author of four books of poetry, including Chiaroscuro (2008) and The Long Lost Startle (2009), the children's book Pedro and the Lifeforce (1997), and of the screenplays for Todo Todo Teros and Philippine Bliss, screened at the 2007 Rotterdam Film Festival. Among his awards is the 2005 Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature for the collection What Little I Know of Luminosity, while Chiaroscuro was a finalist for the 2008 Philippines National Book Award for Poetry. A fifth poetry collection is due out this year. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Dory MANOR (poet, editor; Israel) is a poetry and translation lecturer at universities in Tel Aviv, the co-host of a radio talk show, the editor-in-chief of Sal Tarbut Artzi Publishers, and editor-in-chief of הו! [Oh!] literary journal. The recipient of several literary prizes, Manor has translated Baudelaire, Flaubert, Descartes, Rimbaud, Melville, Twain, Verne, and others; his translations of Mallarmé and Valéry are forthcoming in 2011. His collaborative efforts include a musical interpretation of Baudelaire's poetry, and an operatic libretto ואומגה אלפא [Alpha and Omega], staged in 2001. Manor has published two collections of poetry, מיעוט [Minority] (2001) and בריטון [Baritone] (2005). His collected works will be published in 2011.
PARK Chan Soon (fiction writer, translator; South Korea) made her literary debut in 2006 after working as a film translator for dubbing and subtitling for thirty years, with over fifty documentaries and hundreds of feature films to her credit. She has also worked as a subtitler for film festivals, and translated a number of books for adults and children. She is the author of [Whisperings of a Translator – Movie Translation, Aesthetics of Communication] (2005); her first collection of short stories, [The Garden of Balhae] came out in 2009. She is a professor of English Literature at Seoul Women's University. Her participation is made possible by Arts Council Korea.
Tommi PARKKO (poet, nonfiction writer; Finland) has taught creative writing at universities and workshops across his native Finland. Parkko is the founder of the poetry association Nihil Interit, and has edited a number of poetry collections. His own work has been translated into Swedish, Russian, Estonian, Hebrew, and Lithuanian. He is the author of third poetry collections, Lyhyt Muisti, Meri [Short Memory, Sea] (1997) and Sileäksi Puhuttu [Smooth Talk] (2004). His third collection, Pelikaani [Pelican], is due out in August of 2011. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Alexandra PETROVA (poet, fiction writer; Russia/Italy) was born in Russia, lived in Jerusalem and currently resides in Rome. She is the author of three collections of poetry Линия Отрыва [Point of Detachment] (1994), Вид на жительство [Residence Permit] (2000), and Только деревья [Just the Trees] (2008). Her poems have appeared in Russian magazines: Znamia, Zvezda, and Zerkalo, in English in Literary Revue, Modern Poetry in Translation, Drunken Boat, Guernica, and many more. She has also written a play "Пастухи Долли" [Dolly's Shepherds, A Philosophical Play]. She was short listed for the Andrej Belyj award (2001, 2007) and she has received awards the "Migrante" European Poetry meeting (2006), Belgrade's Festival of Poetry Trceg TRG (2008), and the Torino Festival's Sixth Annual National Mother Language Literary Competition (2011). She is currently at work on her first novel. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Nell REGAN (poet; Ireland) is a writer and educator. Her poems have been published in journals and anthologies, including the Russian Journal of Contemporary Writing from Ireland, The Florida Review, Poetry Daily, Cyphers, and Breaking the Skin, 21st Century Irish Writing. Her three collections of poetry include Preparing for Spring (2007) shortlisted for the Glen Dimplex New Writing, Strong, and Patrick Kavanagh Awards, and Bound for Home (2011); a fourth volume is due out in 2012. Her biography of Helena Molony appeared in Female Activists: Irish Women and Change, 1900-60. She participates courtesy of The Arts Council/ An Chomhairle Ealaíon and the Irish Fulbright Commission.
Josephine ROWE (fiction writer, poet; Australia) has worked variously as a lecturer, editor and curator of literary events. Her writing has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Best Australian Poems (2005, 2006 & 2010), Best Australian Stories (2010), Overland, ABR and The Griffith Review, and her short story collection How a Moth Becomes a Boat was published in 2010. Her stories have been made into short films and performance pieces, and broadcast on Radio National's The Book Show and Poetica. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Hind SHOUFANI (poet, filmmaker; Jordan) was born to Palestinian parents in Lebanon and lives in Dubai. Shoufani has made a number of short films and documentaries, and is now at work on the documentary Journey in Migration (2011) and the feature-length This War on Love. She has been a film instructor in Jordan and Lebanon, and written on the arts for the Beirut newspapers The Daily Star and The Guide. The author of two volumes of poetry, More Light Than Death Could Bear (2007) and Inkstains on the Edge of Light (2010), she is also the founder of The Poeticians, a group that hosts multilingual poetry and spoken word events in Amman, Beirut and Dubai. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Cho Tu ZAW (novelist, filmmaker, poet, essayist, activist; Myanmar)after years of political organizing, has more than twenty screenwriting and directing credits, including [Another Lonely World] (2010), [The Lost] (2011) and, most recently, [Let's Make A Dialogue on Love] (2011). He is the author of the novels, [Some Used to Hate] (2006] and [Once Upon a Time in Ganges] (2010); his poems and articles have been featured in a number of magazines.
Ilya KAMINSKY is the author of Dancing In Odessa (2004) which won the Whiting Writer's Award, the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Metcalf Award, the Dorset Prize, and the Ruth Lilly Fellowship given annually by Poetry magazine, and was named Best Poetry Book of the Year 2004 by ForeWord Magazine. In 2008, he received Lannan Foundation's Literary Fellowship; in 2009, poems from his manuscript Deaf Republic were awarded Poetry magazine's Levinson Prize. The anthology of 20th century poetry in translation he edited, Ecco Anthology of International Poetry, appeared in 2010. Kaminsky is also the editor of Poetry International and the poetry editor of Words Without Borders. He teaches at San Diego State University.
Genevieve L. ASENJO (fiction writer, poet, translator; Philippines) is the author of four books including Lumbay ng Dila (The Melancholy of the Tongue), winner of the country’s 2011 National Book Award. Her short stories and poems have appeared in many magazines and anthologies. She translates into the Philippine languages Kinaray-a, Hiligaynon, and Filipino, and is the founder-director of Balay Sugidanun (Storytelling House). She is Associate Professor of literature and creative writing at De La Salle University-Manila. Her participation is made possible by a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Jana BEŇOVÁ (poet, fiction writer; Slovakia) has written three books of poetry: Svetloplachý (1993), Lonochod (1997) and Nehota (1997). Beňová has also published the short story collection Dvanásť poviedok a Ján Med (2003), an essay collection, and the novels Parker (2000) and Plán odprevádzania (Café Hyena) [Seeing People Off] (2008); her most recent novel, Preč! Preč! [Away! Away!] was published earlier this year. Beňová currently works as an editor at the Slovak Theatre Institute. Her participation is made possible by a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Luis BRAVO (poet, essayist; Uruguay) has published eleven works of poetry in book form and as multimedia, most recently Árbol Veloz [Swift Tree] (2009) and Tamudando (2010). Bravo’s poems have appeared online and in print, in Latin America and Europe; group works can be found here. His essays have appeared in a variety of anthologies, magazines, and other publications; he has also published four volumes of criticism. He teaches literature at Universidad de Montevideo. His participation is courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
CHAN Chi Tak 陳智德 (pen name:CHAN Mit陳滅.poet, essayist; Hong Kong) is an assistant professor at the Hong Kong Institute of Education, and co-founder of poetry journals《呼吸詩刊》 [Huxi Poetry](1996-2001) and《詩潮》 [Poetry Waves](2001-2003). He has three books of poetry, 《單聲道》[Life in Mono] (2002), 《低保真》[Lo-fi Sound] (2004), and 《市場, 去死吧》[To Hell With the Market] (2008), three essay collections, and edited three anthologies of Hong Kong literature. His work has twice won the Recommendation Prize for Chinese Literature at Hong Kong Biennial Awards and four times the Award for Creative Writing in Chinese. English translations of Chan’s poems have been featured in The Literary Review, West Coast Line, Renditions, and To Pierce the Material Screen: an Anthology 20th-century Hong Kong Literature. His participation is made possible by a grant from The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation in Hong Kong.
Alina DADAEVA (poet, fiction writer; Uzbekistan) has worked as a reporter and correspondent for Зеркало XXI [Mirror XXI], Бизнес-вестникВостока [Business Report of the East], Новый век [The New Century] and Леди [The Lady]. Her poetry has appeared in Вдохновение[The Inspiration], an almanac of young Uzbek poets, and in the literary journals День и ночь [Day and Night], Звезда [The Star], Новая Юность [The New Youth], and Звезда Востока [The Star of the East]. Dadaeva’s first collection of poetry, Предчувствие [The Presentiment], was published in 2010. She participates thanks to a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
TJ DEMA (poet; Botswana), a founding member of her country’s spoken word movement and a member of Sonic Slam Chorus, a former chair of the Writers' Association of Botswana, and runs Sauti Arts and Performance Management. An editor and anthologized poet, she has produced a multilingual CD, “Dreaming Is A Gift For Me,” featuring twelve Botswana poets. This summer she took part in the Cultural Olympiad’s Poetry Parnassus in London. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Jeffrey Paparoa HOLMAN (poet, nonfiction writer; New Zealand) has worked as a sheep-shearer, postman, lecturer, psychiatric social worker and bookseller. He is the author of a book of nonfiction, Best of Both Worlds: The Story of Elsdon Best and Tutakangahau (2010), and seven collections of poetry, including As Big As A Father (2002) and, most recently Shaken Down 6.3. His memoir, The Lost Pilot is forthcoming. His participation is supported through a grant from Creative New Zealand.
Andrei KHADANOVICH (poet, translator; Belarus) is the author of eight collections of poetry, including Лісты з-пад коўдры [Letters from under the Blanket] (2004), Несымэтрычныя сны [Nonsymmetrical Dreams] (2010), and a poetry book for children Нататкі таткі [Father’s Notes]. A translator of English, French, Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian poetry, he has had his work translated into 14 languages. He is the president of PEN Belarus. He teaches literature at Belarusian State University and Belarusian National Jakub Kolas Lyceum of Liberal Arts, and translation at the Belarusian Collegium. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Rodrigo Garcia LOPES (poet, translator; Brazil) has published five collections of poetry, including Solarium (1994), Polivox (2001) and Nômada (2004). His poems, essays and interviews have been widely published and anthologized, including in Os Cem Melhores Poemas Brasileiros do Século 20 [The Best 100 Brazilian Poems of the Twentieth Century]. His second CD, Canções do Estúdio Realidade [Songs from Reality Studio), a new book of poems and a first novel, the detective story O Trovador [The Troubadour] are forthcoming in 2012. He translates from the English (Whitman, Laura Riding, Plath) and from the French (Rimbaud, Apollinaire). A freelance journalist and translator, he co-edits the arts magazine Coyote; he also performs his poems and songs regularly around Brazil. His participation is courtesy the William B. Quarton Foundation.
Dimitris LYACOS (poet, playwright; Greece/Italy) is the author of the cross- genre trilogy Poena Damni, which includes Z213: ΕΞΟΔΟΣ [Z213: EXIT] (published in English in 2010), ΜΕ ΤΟΥΣ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΥΣ ΑΠΟ ΤΗ ΓΕΦΥΡΑ [With the People From the Bridge], and Ο ΠΡΩΤΟΣ ΘΑΝΑΤΟΣ [The First Death]. The trilogy has been translated into six languages, and staged in theatres across Europe and the U.S., inspiring works in various media including a sound and sculpture installation, paintings, and a dance adaptation. Lyacos’ participation is made possible by a grant from the Counting Art non-profit organization and Athens-based ABOUT Cultural Venue.
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