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.
2018 Resident
fiction writer, poet
Adriana BORJA ENRÍQUEZ (fiction writer, poet; Ecuador) works as a psychologist, with a focus on human rights, gender-based violence, and refugee rights. Her short stories and poetry have been widely anthologized in South America and Europe. A winner of the International Poetry and Theater Castello di Duino Competition in 2013 and 2017, she has also received awards from the House of Ecuadorian Culture and elsewhere. Borja Enrìquez participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.
2018 Resident
poet
Chandramohan SATHYANATHAN (poet; India) is the author of poetry collections Warscape Verses (2014) and Letters to Namdeo Dhasal (2016), shortlisted for Srinivas Rayaprol Poetry Prize and the Harish Govind Memorial Prize. Sathyanathan coordinates English-language poetry readings in Kerala as well as a subaltern cultural collective there; in 2016 Outlook Magazine listed him as Dalit Achiever of the Year. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the U.S. Department of State.
2018 Resident
journalist, poet, translator
Salah BADIS صلاح باديس (poet, translator, journalist; Algeria) is a founding member of Nafha magazine, a journalist and music editor, and a musical and cultural researcher for print and radio. Salah’s first poetry volume,ضجرالبواخر [Ship Weariness], was published in 2016. His poems and essays have been translated into English, French, and Turkish. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.
2018 Resident
fiction writer, poet
Gina COLE (fiction writer, poet; New Zealand) is the author of Black Ice Matter, which won Best First Book of Fiction at the 2017 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, and the winner of the 2014 Auckland Pride Festival’s creative writing competition for the poem “Airport Aubade”; her work is widely anthologized. She was keynote speaker at the 2017 Auckland Writers Festival and the Same Same But Different LGBTQIA+ Writing Festival. A barrister, she specializes in family law. Her participation is made possible by Creative New Zealand.
2018 Resident
fiction writer, poet, visual artist
Umar TIMOL (poet, fiction writer, visual artist; Mauritius) is the author of four poetry volumes, two novels, and two comic books; his poetry collection 52 Fragments pour l’aimée [52 Fragments for the Beloved] (2016) received the Poetry Prize at the Moldova Poetry Festival. Timol is a teacher, photographer, founding member of the mixed-genre journal Point Barre, and a frequent presence at poetry festivals. His participation is made possible by the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.
2018 Resident
children's author, fiction writer, playwright, poet, translator
Kateryna BABKINA Катерина Бабкіна (fiction writer, poet, playwright; Ukraine) published her first book at age 17. Since then, she has authored three story collections, four volumes of poetry and two novels, with translations into 12 languages. Sonia was shortlisted for the 2013 BBC Book of the Year; three of her screenplays have been made into films, including Зло [Evil] and Жовта коробочка [The Yellow Box]. Her children’s book Шапочка і кит [Cappy and the Whale], a commercial success, raised funds for pediatric cancer. She participates courtesy of the Paul and Hualing Engle Fund.
2018 Resident
performance artist, poet
Roberto ECHETO (poet, fiction writer, essayist; Venezuela) has published three story anthologies, a novel, and two books of essays. A founding member and faculty at the Instituto de Creatividad y Comunicación in Caracas, he writes and edits for journals, produces for radio, and writes scripts. In 2015 Echeto won the mixed-media contest Concurso Transgenérico from Cultura Urbana for Maniobras elementales [Elementary Maneuvers]. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. State Department.
2018 Resident
children's author, fiction writer, journalist, poet
Jacqueline GOLDBERG (poet, fiction writer, essayist, journalist; Venezuela) is the author of six books of prose, 10 children’s books, and 20 volumes of poetry. Her novel Las horas claras [The Clear Hours] received the 2012 prize of Fundación para la Cultura Urbana, was the Venezuelan Booksellers’ Book of the Year, a finalist for the Critic’s Award Novel for 2013, and was re-published in Mexico in 2018. Goldberg frequently speaks at literature and at food festivals. Her participation is made possible by the US Embassy in Caracas.
2018 Resident
journalist, performance artist, poet
Aušra KAZILIŪNAITĖ (poet, performance artist, journalist; Lithuania) is the author of four volumes of poetry: in 2018, The Moon is a Pill appeared in English. Kaziliūnaitė's poems appeared in How the Earth Carries Us: New Lithuanian Poets (2017) and New Baltic Poetry Anthology (2018), and have been translated into many other languages. She is the recipient of several national awards, including, in 2016, the Young Artist Prize from Lithuania’s Ministry of Culture. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2018 Resident
fiction writer, non-fiction writer, poet
Faisal ODDANG (fiction writer, poet, essayist; Indonesia) is the author of three novels and two poetry anthologies. Puya ke puya [From One Heaven to Another] won the 2014 Jakarta Art Council novel competition, and in 2015 Tempo Magazine’s Best Novel prize. His other awards include ASEAN Young Writers Award, Prose Writer of the Year (Tempo Magazine, 2015), and Best Short Story Writers (Kompas Daily, 2014). He is now at work on a translation of the Sulawesi epic La Galigo. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. State Department.
2018 Resident
poet, scholar
CAI Tianxin 蔡天新 (poet, essayist; China) is a professor of mathematics at Zhejiang University and the author of some 30 books of poetry, essays, and mathematics texts in China and abroad, including Every Cloud Has Its Own Name (2017) and Antologia Poetica (2014). A translator and editor of several poetry anthologies, he is the winner of the 2013 Naji Naaman Poetry Award (Beirut) and the 2017 National Award of Science and Technology (Beijing) for his book of essays [Mathematical Legends]. His participation is made possible by the Paul and Hualing Engle Fund.
2018 Resident
fiction writer, poet, translator
Haifa ABU AL-NADI (fiction writer, screenwriter, translator; Jordan) teaches English at the Applied Sciences University in Amman, and translates for the Kalima and Al-Qattan foundations. Author of screenplays and magazine articles, in 2012 she published the volume of stories على أهبة الحلم [On the Threshold of Dreaming] and, in 2016, the collection مُراودات [Propositions]. She participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. State Department.
2018 Resident
fiction writer, poet
Dan COMAN (fiction writer, poet; Romania) has published four books of poems and three novels. Winner of the 2004 Mihai Eminescu Award for the poetry collection anul cârtiței galbene [The Year of the Yellow Mole], Coman has also received the 2004 Romanian Writers Union Prize, the 2011 Crystal Vilenica Prize, and Radio Romania’s Cultural Awards for 2011 and 2017. His work has been anthologized, and translated into seven languages, English included. His participation was made possible by the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest.
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