Henriikka TAVI (poet, fiction writer, translator; Finland) teaches creative writing, collaborates with artists from different art branches, and translates from the Swedish and German into Finnish. She is a founding member of Poesia, a poetry publishing cooperative, and the author of 12, an experimental poetry book project. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2016 Resident
poet, visual artist
Mara GENSCHEL (poet; Germany) published her first book of poems, Tonbrand Schlaf, in 2008. She now works on projects involving visual and aural aspects of poetry, publishes book art, and collaborates with performance artists. Her participation is made possible by the Max Kade Foundation.
2016 Resident
poet, translator
Christine YOHANNES (poet, writer, translator; Ethiopia) conducts poetry workshops in schools and is the founder of the monthly “Poetic Saturdays” gathering, where everyone can express themselves through art. Missing Words, a poetry collection, appeared in 2014. She participates courtesy of the U.S. Embassy of Addis Ababa.
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
poet, translator
Akhil KATYAL (poet, translator; India) has translated works by Langston Hughes, Dorothy Parker, Agha Shahid Ali, Amrita Pritam, and others. He teaches English literature at Shiv Nadar University, near New Delhi. His most recent collection of poetry is Night Charge Extra, published in 2015. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2016 Resident
poet, translator
Alice S. YOUSEF (poet, translator; Palestinian Territories) publishes poetry on her blog “Blooms in Indigo,” writing on the Middle East, the Palestinian experience, and the emotions of daily life. She has also published short stories and translations. She has a MA in Writing from the University of Warwick (UK). She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2016 Resident
fiction writer, poet
Ruel JOHNSON (fiction writer, poet; Guyana), a journalist and editor, is the author of several collections of poetry and short stories. In 2002, his Ariadne & Other Stories won the Guyana Prize for Literature for Best First Book of Fiction; the collection Fictions won later the same award. A cultural advisor to the government of Guyana, Johnson is involved in policy development and implementation. 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.
2017 Resident
critic, fiction writer, poet, translator
Vladimir MARTINOVSKI Владимир Мартиновски (fiction writer, poet, critic, translator; Macedonia) teaches comparative poetics at Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, and is the secretary of the Macedonian PEN Center. The author of ten poetry collections and many volumes of literary criticism and theory, he has received awards for poetry (at the International Struga Poetry Evenings) and for literary criticism. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2017 Resident
journalist, poet
Fatena ALGHORRA (poet, journalist; Belgium) has four books of poetry: two were translated, one winning a prize for best Arabic translation into Italian. A fifth volume will appear in Arabic and in Dutch. Her work appears in the anthology Fifty Years of Palestinian Poets. In 2012 she won the El Hizjra prize for Dutch language writers of diverse background. After a career in broadcasting in Gaza, she is now a freelance journalist for Al Jazeera, a lecturer, a performer, and the organizer of poetry events in Belgium and the Netherlands. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
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, playwright, poet, translator
Ubah Cristina ALI FARAH (fiction writer, poet, playwright, translator; Italy) is a Somali-Italian novelist, performer, teacher and social activist. Her two novels, Madre piccola [Little Mother, Indiana UP 2011] and Il Comandante del fiume [The Commander of the River] tell stories of the Somali civil war and its refugees in Italy. In 2006, she was awarded the Lingua Madre National Literary Prize, and in 2008, the Vittorini Prize. She has a PhD in African Studies from the University of Naples; currently she lives in Brussels. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
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
poet, translator
Lava Omer DARWESH لاڤە عمر دەروێش (poet, translator; Iraq) graduated from the American University of Iraq with degrees in Business and English Literature. In her native city of Sulaimani she started a Freedom Writers Club and a Book Lovers Club; her poems have appeared in the anthology Lanterns of Hope, and she translates poetry and prose from English into Kurdish. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2017 Resident
performance artist, poet, translator, visual artist
Kinga TÓTH (poet, translator, illustrator, songwriter, performer; Hungary) has published six poetry books, all self-illustrated. Her visual poetry has been exhibited widely; she is the lead singer of the experimental band Tóth Kína Hegyfalu and is working on the visual/sound/poetry projects X and [Moonlight Faces], for which she received the 2017 Hazai Attila award. Ms. Tóth participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2017 Resident
fiction writer, poet, screenwriter
Anne KENNEDY (fiction writer, screenwriter, poet; New Zealand) received the 2013 New Zealand Post Book Award for Poetry for The Darling North; in 2014 her novel The Last Days of the National Costume was a finalist for the New Zealand Post Book Award and was longlisted for the IMPAC-Dublin Award. In 2016 she was in residence at the Victoria University’s International Institute of Modern Letters. During her career, she has been an advocate for Maori and Pasifika voices. Her participation is made possible by Creative New Zealand.
2017 Resident
fiction writer, journalist, poet
Gimba KAKANDA (fiction writer, poet, journalist; Nigeria) published a first volume of poetry, Safari Pants, in 2010; his other work has been anthologized. He is an editor at the Daily Nigerian, a daily committed to promoting transparency in governance, and maintains a weekly column in other periodicals concerned with social issues. He participates courtesy of the U.S. Embassy in Abuja.
2017 Resident
playwright, poet
Ramsha ASHRAF (poet, playwright; Pakistan) has a collection of poetry, Enmeshed (2015), publishes poems on her blog Escritura 415 and elsewhere, and contributes to literary magazines. At the Foundation University’s Rawalpindi campus she teaches writing courses, develops arts curricula and produces visual media. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
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
editor, fiction writer, poet
Yaara SHEHORI (fiction writer, poet, editor; Israel) is a literary editor at Keter Publishing House with a PhD in Hebrew literature. She has published many works of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction—most recently the novel [Aquarium] (2016). In 2015, she received both the Levi Eshkol Prime Minister’s Prize and the Minister of Culture Award for Hebrew Literature in the ‘young authors’ category; in 2017 [Aquarium] was awarded the Bernstein Prize as best novel in Hebrew. She participates courtesy of the United States-Israeli Education Foundation.
Find Us Online