Víctor de la Cruz (1948-2015) was an Oaxacan poet from Juchitán, a hub of Isthmus Zapotec art and culture on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. He compiled what is perhaps the most important anthology of Zapotec literature, The Flower of the Word. He earned a doctorate in Mesoamerican Studies, and his books of poetry include First […]
Professor Obaidullah Darwesh Durrani, commonly knows as Darwesh Durrani in the literary world, is one of the most famous contemporary Pashto poets. His family is originally from Kandahar in southern Afghanistan; they later settled in Quetta, Pakistan. He has a Masters degree in English literature, a subject he teaches to college students in Quetta. He […]
Rashid El Sheikh migrated from Sudan to the UK in 1991 as a political refugee. He obtained a diploma in International Studies from Birkbeck College and an MA in Cultural Policy Management from City University. He is Senior Coordinator of the International Relations Department at the Wellington Hospital in London.
Prize-winning poet and short-story writer, Tea Topuria was born in 1977 in Sochumi, Georgia. In 1998 she graduated from the faculty of Journalism at Tbilisi State University. In addition to her poetry collection Ecocide, Tea has published a number of highly acclaimed books of short stories including The Mint Threshing Floor, The Book of Tales, […]
Mohammad Bagher Kolahi Ahari was born in 1950 in Mashhad, Khorasan. His first collection Above the Four Elements was published in 1977. He published six more collections of poetry. Kolahi has developed his distinct voice inspired by lyrical and elegiac traditions of Persian poetry combined with his story-telling talent. Many of Kolahi’s poems contain a […]
Abdul Bari Jahani is considered to be one of the most famous contemporary poets of Pashto language. He was born in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan, in 1948 and got his BA degree from Kabul University’s Faculty of Literature in 1972. He was the editor of Kabul magazine. Two years before the Soviet invasion he was appointed […]
Bahareh Rezaei is a poet and literary critic who was born in 1978 in Roodsar, Iran. Having discovered a passion for poetry when she was very young, she began writing seriously when she was fifteen. Since then, she has worked as a literary editor, literary agent and as a judge in poetry festivals. She has […]
Mujib Mehrdad is an established poet of the younger generation who writes free verse and is highly respected both as a poet and as a scholar. You can foillow him on twitter here.
The poet, Rahmat Shah Sayel, is also a political activist campaigning through his poetry for the rights of his fellow Pashtoons. Pashtoons (Pakhtoons/Pakhtuns), also known as Afghans, Pathans, are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan and the second biggest in Pakistan. He was born in the Dargai village of Wartier in Malakand Agency, Pakistan. At […]
Born in 1986, in a remote village of Khevsureti in high mountainous region of Georgia, with only 50 inhabitants, is a rising star of contemporary Georgian literature scene. After graduating secondary school Lia moved to capital city and entered Georgia State University of Theatre and Film, majoring in movie directing. For a short period of […]