Khosiyat RUSTAMOVA (poet, journalist, editor; Uzbekistan) has since the mid-1990s published ten poetry volumes; her poetry has been translated into some 30 languages. She herself translates poetry from the Russian, the Turkish, and the Azerbaijani into Uzbek. A recipient of national awards in Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, in 2018 she won the International Poetry Festival in Thailand for her poetry. She is the editor-in-chief of the [World of the Books] magazine. Her participation is made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2021 Resident, 2022 Spring Resident
editor, poet, scholar, translator
Fahri ÖZ (translator, scholar, poet; Turkey) has translated into Turkish many British and American 19th– and 20th-century poets, and is currently bringing into Turkish Walt Whitman’s and Emily Dickinson’s collected works. He is the co-editor of a collection of “sudden fiction,” Hayat Kısa Proust Uzun [Life is Short, Proust is Long] (2000), and the author of the poetry volume Meşrutiyet Çok Bulutlu On Beş Santigrat Yağmur Olasılığı Sıfır [Meşrutiyet Street: Heavily Overcast, 15 Degrees Celsius with Zero Chance of Rain] (2019). Until 2017, when he was dismissed for signing the Academics for Peace declaration, he taught at Ankara University. His participation is sponsored by the Institute for International Education, the University of Iowa, and private gifts.
2021 Resident
poet, publisher, screenwriter
MAE YWAY မယ်ယွေး (poet, scriptwriter, publisher; Myanmar) has been publishing her writing in periodicals and collections since 2010. The first volume of her poetry, [Courier], appeared in 2013; [You & I] appeared in 2016. In 2017, she founded the poetry publishing house 90/91, even while working as a digital content strategist and TV writer. Her participation was made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2021 Visitor
activist, editor, fiction writer, non-fiction writer, poet
The recipient of a Caine Prize, a Commonwealth Prize for Best First Book, and the Windham-Campbell Prize for Literary Achievement, Helon HABILA is the author of six volumes of fiction and non-fiction, the editor of several collections of writing, and a publisher. His most recent novel is Travelers (2019). The first African Writing Fellow at the University of East Anglia, he was the inaugural Chinua Achebe Fellow at Bard College; his current appointment is at George Mason University, where Professor Habila teaches in the disciplines of Creative Writing, English, and Global Affairs. An IWP 2004 alum, he returns as our 2021 Ida Beam Distinguished Visitor.
2021 Visitor
activist, editor, fiction writer, journalist, non-fiction writer, physician, poet
IWP '05 alumna Ma Thida is a Burmese surgeon, writer, poet, human rights activist and former prisoner of conscience. Among her nine books are The Sunflower (1999), The Roadmap (2011) and the memoir Sanchaung, Insein, Harvard (2012). Recently elected as Chair of The Writers in Prison committee of PEN International, she is the founder and past president of PEN Myanmar and past board member of PEN International; in 2016 she was the first recipient of the Václav Havel Foundation’s “Disturbing the Peace” award. At present (2021), she is a visiting research associate at Yale’s Southeast Asia Studies program.
2022 Fall Resident
non-fiction writer, poet, translator
Krystyna DĄBROWSKA (poet, essayist, translator; Poland) is the author of five poetry volumes, most recently Miasto z indu [City of Indium] (2022). The recipient of the Wisława Szymborska, the Kościelski, and the Capital City of Warsaw literary awards, she has had her poems translated into twenty languages. In the U.S., they have appeared in Harper’s, Ploughshares, POETRY and elsewhere; in 2022, a poetry volume in English translation, Tideline, appeared from Zephyr Press. Dąmbrowska herself translates Louise Glück, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Charles Simic and many other Anglophone poets. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State has funded her residency.
2022 Fall Resident
children's author, fiction writer, poet
Yahya ASHOUR يحيى عاشور (fiction, poetry; Palestinian Territories) has authored a children’s book and, in 2018, a collection of poetry entitled [You Are a Window, They Are Clouds]. His poems and award-winning stories have been anthologized and appeared in newspapers and magazines in Palestinian Territories and internationally. He has taught creative writing and literacy skills to both children and adults at various community organizations in Gaza. He participates through a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affair at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Fall Resident
fiction writer, poet
CHUN Sue 春树 (fiction writer, poet; PRC/Germany) became widely known with her iconic 2002 novel Beijing Doll, translated into many languages. She has since published five additional novels—most recently the autobiographical [Milk Teeth] (2019)—three poetry collections, and books of essays. A frequent presence at literary festivals and arts residencies in Europe, she also publishes in Chinese literary magazines. Her participation is courtesy of the Paul and Hualing Engle Fund.
2022 Fall Resident
activist, fiction writer, journalist, poet
Edson INCOPTÉ (fiction writer, poet, journalist, activist; Guinea-Bissau) has an extensive resume as organizer and activist in the areas of youth, civic development, and equity, and is the Secretary of PEN Guinea-Bissau and the Writers Association of Guinea-Bissau. His own publications comprise a volume of poetry and one of prose; he has co-edited anthologies of new Guinea-Bissau authors and contributes columns for magazines and radio. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Fall Resident
filmmaker, poet
Ghayath ALMADHOUN غياث المدهون (poet, filmmaker; Sweden) is a Palestinian poet born in Damascus, immigrated to Sweden in 2008, now living between Berlin and Stockholm. He is the author of four volumes of poetry in Arabic, translated widely. His latest collection is Adrenalin (2017), longlisted for a 2018 Best Translated Book Award; his Évian won the 2020 Zebra Best Poetry Film Award. He participates thanks to a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Fall Resident
activist, editor, poet, scholar, translator
Judith SANTOPIETRO (poet, translator, editor, scholar; Mexico) has published the poem collections Palabras de Agua and Tiawanaku. Poemas de la Madre Coqa [Tiawanaku. Poems from the Mother Coqa]. Her poems appear in many anthologies, and her translations from the Spanish and the Nahuatl have received several awards. Between 2005 and 2016, she directed Iguanazul: literature on indigenous languages, a project to revitalize native languages through oral tradition, literature, and arts. Currently, she is working on narratives about enforced disappearances in Mexico. She participates courtesy the Paul and Hualing Engle Fund.
2022 Fall Resident
fiction writer, journalist, playwright, poet
Zaza MUCHEMWA (poet, playwright, arts administrator; Zimbabwe) has had her poetry appear at PEN International and Badilisha Poetry X-change and included in the anthology Zimbabwe Poets for Human Rights; author of the play The IVth Interrogation, she is also an award-winning theater director and producer. Her journalism appears in Index on Censorship Magazine, Povo Magazine and elsewhere. She participates thanks to a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Fall Resident
fiction writer, poet, publisher
Safinah Danish ELAHI (fiction writer, poet; Pakistan) is a lawyer by training. She is the author of the poetry collection The Unbridled Romance of Love and Pain (2019) and two novels, most recently Eye on the Prize (2020), which has since been turned into a TV film. She also contributes to Pakistani newspapers and magazines, and is the founder of Reverie Publishers, whose goal it is to guide the country’s emerging Anglophone writers. Her participation was made possible by a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Fall Resident
fiction writer, playwright, poet, scholar
Endalegeta KEBEDE እንዳለጌታ ከበደ (fiction writer, poet, playwright, researcher; Ethiopia) is the author of over a dozen novels, stories, poems and staged plays. Among his titles are ከጥቁር ሰማይ ስር [Under The Dark Sky], የቃቄ ወርድወት እምቢ [The Defiant Woman], and በዓሉ ግርማ፡- ሕይወቱና ሥራዎቹ [Baalu: His Life and Works]. With a PhD in Folklore Studies, he has been an arts director at the Ethiopia Academy of Science, and the General Secretary of Ethiopian Writers Association. He is also the founder and manager of the Zagol Book Bank. He participates courtesy of the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa.
2022 Fall Resident
non-fiction writer, playwright, poet, scholar, screenwriter
Joaquín ORTEGA (playwright, essayist, poet, scholar; Venezuela) works across media and institutions. The author of a volume of poetry and of plays like “Lo escuche llorar en mi boca. Tríptico de Caracas” [I Heard Him Cry in My Mouth. A Caracas Triptych], he has long been a librettist for popular radio and TV comedy shows, and has also published La cultura del milenio: ensayos sobre creatividad [The Millennium Culture: Essays on Creativity]. He teaches at Universidad Central de Venezuela, in the School of Political and Administration Studies. His residency is made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Fall Resident
fiction writer, performance artist, poet, visual artist
Jamie Marina LAU 劉劍冰 (fiction, poetry, performance; Australia) has published Pink Mountain on Locust Island (2018) and Gunk Baby (2021), which garnered her a number of awards; her stories, nonfiction and poetry have appeared in Meanjin, Cordite Poetry Review, Voiceworks and elsewhere. She also works with digital arts and music/sound composition. Her residency is supported by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Fall Resident
journalist, physician, poet, translator
Mohamad NASSEREDDINE (poet, translator, journalist; Lebanon) is a regular contributor to the Al-Akhbar daily, the current vice president of Lebanon PEN, and a professor of Medical Physics at Lebanese University in Beirut. Work from his seven volumes of poetry has been widely translated and anthologized. He participates courtesy the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Fall Resident
editor, fiction writer, journalist, poet
Mohamed KHEIR محمد خير (fiction writer, poet, journalist, editor, lyricist; Egypt) won the Egyptian Ministry of Culture Award for his first poetry collection, Leil Khargi (2002); both his story collections Afarit Al Radio (2011) and Remsh Al Ein (2016) received The Sawiris Cultural Award. In 2021, the second of his three novels was published as Slipping by Two Lines Press. Alongside his literary work and a career in journalism, Kheir also writes lyrics for young singers from Egypt and Lebanon. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Cultural and Educational Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Fall Resident
performance artist, poet, visual artist
NAGAE Yūki 永方佑樹 (poet, performance artist; Japan) received the 2012 Poetry and Thought Newcomer’s Award; her 2019 poetry collection Fuzai toshi [Absentee Cities] was awarded the Rekitei Prize. Her most recent project is GeoPossession, in which 3D audio recordings of writers reading from their work in specific locations around Tokyo are made available to listeners at those locations. She has performed at the Saint-Remi Museum in Reims, France, and across Japan, and is a lecturer at Nagoya University of the Arts. Her participation is made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
2022 Fall Resident
critic, editor, poet, scholar
David ANUAR (poet, essayist, editor, translator; Mexico) teaches courses in creative writing and academic subjects at Colegio Universitario Angloamericano in Mérida. An award-winning author of five volumes of poetry, most recently Alguien hunde mi cabeza [Someone plunge my head down] (2021) and of two collections—one of stories, one of essays—he also translates Anglo-Caribbean poetry. A grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State funds his residency.
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