was born in 1952 in Copenhagen. She made her literary debut in 1981 and has published eight collections of poetry, edited two anthologies of contemporary Danish poetry and written two plays. English versions of her poems have appeared in more than forty literary journals in the UK, the US and Canada. A book of poems, Spring Tide translated by Anne Born, was published in England by Forest Books and her poems have been included in Literary Olympians (1992) and in The Nordic Poetry Festival Anthology (1993) and translated into over ten other languages. Among many grants and awards, Pia Tafdrup received the three-year scholarship for authors from the Danish State Art Foundation in 1984. She is a member of The Danish Academy, the Danish PEN Centre and The Danish Language Council.
(novelist, fiction writer, philosopher, editor; Russia) graduated from Novosibirsk State University, first from the Department of Linguistics, and then from the Department of Philosophy. She lectures on social philosophy at St. Petersburg State University, from where she received her PhD. She also works as a freelance columnist, and is regularly published in newspapers and both academic and non-academic journals. Taratuta’s Russian-language publications include works of fiction (‘One Hundred and One Minutes,’ 2007, ‘The General Hygiene of Dr. Andreas,’ forthcoming, ‘Fishes and Frogs,’ forthcoming), and an academic text titled ‘A Philosophy of Virtual Reality,’( 2007).
was born in 1971 in Mokrin, Serbia. His publications include the play Coated brain / Pohovani mozak (1995, 1996), the poetry collection Sveto Trojstvo Georgija Zecowskog (1997), the collection of short stories Sjajan naslov za pantomimu (1997), four novels, Antologija najboljih naslova (2000), Kazimir i drugi naslovi (2003), Kroz pustinju i prašinu (2005, 2008), Kuvarove kletve i druge gadosti (2006) and a selection of columns, Alternativni vodič kroz Vavilon (2008). In 2004, he was awarded the prestigious Borislav Pekić literary scholarship for the novel Kuvarove kletve i druge gadosti, which was shortlisted for the annual NIN award.
(1973) is a writer and columnist in Reykjavik, Iceland. Her debut collection of poetry, Blálogaland (Land of Blue Flames) was published in spring 1999, followed the year after by a collection of road-poetry, Hnattflug (Circumnavigation), which was voted best poetry book of the season by staff-members of Icelandic bookstores. As well as poetry she has written dramatic and prose texts, and her first novel, Sólar saga (The Story of Sun), received the Tomas Gudmundsson Literary Prize in 2002. Her poetry has been translated into several languages and published in anthologies in Germany, Sweden and Italy. A bilingual collection of her poems in Icelandic and English (translated by Bernard Scudder), To bleed straight, was published by Forlagið in 2008.
(1962) is an outstanding writer and essayist. Her greatest success was the novel Prehistory and Other Times (1996). She was shortlisted to the Nike Literary Prize, awarded by the readers of Gazeta Wyborcza. Other awards for her work include the Koscielski Foundation Prizes. She has published the novel House of Day, House of Night (1998) and two collections of short stories: Playing on a Multitude of Drums (2001) and The Last Stories (2004). As a master of the short form and a devotee of C.G.Jung and arcane knowledge. Olga Tokarczuk's prose can bring new meanings into light from the depiction of apparently lifeless things. The writing itself is a creation taking place before the reader's eyes. Mythic meanings are intertwined with psychological ones and the reader discovers the world anew; a world, which seemed to be already known and domesticated. Her last novel, Bieguni (Runners, 2007) won the Nike Literary > Prize (2008) and was also awarded by the readers of Gazeta Wyborcza.
was born in 1963 in Murska Sobota, Slovenia. She graduated in Sociology in Ljubljana at The Faculty of Social Sciences and completed her MA in Gender Anthropology at The Institutum Studiorum Humanitatis, Ljubljana Postgraduate School of Humanities. She lives and works in Ljubljana as a writer, translator, lesbian activist, organiser and publicist. She published 4 short stories collections Pod ničlo (Bellow Zero), Na svojem dvorišču (In One's Own Backyard), Vzporednice (Parallels) and Česa nisem nikoli razumela na vlaku (What I've Never Understood on the Train), 2 novels Ime mi je Damjan (My Name is Damjan) and Tretji svet (Third World), a play and 2 non-fiction books about lesbian movement in Slovenian and a book about lesbian literature. She was rewarded with a national Prešeren's Fund Prize for the best Slovenian fiction book of 2006. Her books and short stories are translated in German, Serbian, Czech, Slovakian, Macedonian, English, Italian, Bulgarian and Dutch language. Suzana Tratnik has translated several books of British and American fiction and non-fiction and plays, including authors such as Judith Butler, Adrienne Rich, Leslie Feinberg, Michael Cunningham, Jackie Kay, Mary Dorcey, Katy Watson, Edna Mazya, Mary Dorcey and Ian McEwan.
was born in Reykjavik, Iceland, on 14th December 1966. He started playing piano at a young age. Ástvaldur graduated from The FIH music school in Reykjavik in 1988 and from The Berklee College of Music in Boston 1991. After graduation he became active on the music scene in Reykjavik and played with many of Iceland’s leading bands, ranging from pop and rock to jazz, including the Reykjavik Big Band for 10 years. A few years ago Ástvaldur picked up the accordion, which has taken up more and more of his time. Currently he plays with the folk music group Bardukha, experimenting with East European music inheritance, blended with jazz and improvised music. Ástvaldur has always been a passionate teacher and has worked in many music schools in Reykjavik. He founded Tónheimar (“The world of music”) which has become one of the most popular music schools in Iceland. In Tónheimar, the main emphasis is on improvisation, playing by ear and encouraging students to be spontaneous and creative. In 2005, Ástvaldur wrote and published a music book which has been very popular and has been taught in many music schools in Iceland. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=95508657
was born in 1970. He lives in Athens. He has written the novels I Efevresi tis Skias (Kastaniotis, 2008), Paravoli (Kastaniotis 2006), O Vathmos diskolias (Indiktos 2004), Vathi pigadi (Indiktos 2003), I Sinandisi (Indiktos 2002). Konstantinos Tzamiotis has had several stories published in magazines and short stories’ collections. His novel Sinandisi was translated into Italian in 2004. For his first play Oudeteri Zoni (2004) he won the “budding play writers” national award. He is editor of the political magazine Anti, and columnist in several newspapers and magazines. During the period 2002 - 2007 he was editor in chief of the cultural magazine Highlights and managing editor of the annual cultural review Stigmiotipa ellinikou politismou.