Janhavi Acharekar
(English, Fiction/Non-Fiction) Janhavi is a Mumbai-based freelance writer and the author of a collection of short stories titled Window Seat: Rush hour Stories from the City (HarperCollins, 2009). She has authored a travel guidebook on Mumbai and Goa for the American series Moon Handbooks (Avalon, 2009) and her writings feature in various short fiction and travel anthologies. She was the Charles Wallace Fellow at the University of Stirling, Scotland, in 2009.
Claus Ankersen
(Danish, Poetry) Claus works with poetry, fiction, spoken word and cross-dicsliplinary artistic expressions. He has published two collecions of poetry, a poetry CD, and he has directed and produced a documentary on Danish spoken word. Claus has performed about 100 live readings a year for the past ten years and is considered a leading figure in Danish spoken word poetry. He has also worked and performed internationally in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Turkey and the US.
Xaver Bayer
(German, Fiction/Drama/Film) Xaver was born in Vienna, where he lives. He has published several books, both poetry and fiction, including Heute konnte ein glucklicher Tag sein (2001) and Die Alaskastrabe(2003). His works of drama include Als ich heute aufwachte, aufstand und mich wusch, da schien mir plotzlich, mir sei alles klar auf dieser Welt und ich wusste, wie man leben soll(2004). At the moment he is working on a film script. Writes novels, theatre-plays and poetry. Published several books. At the moment he is working on a film-script.
Lars Husman
(Danish, Fiction) Lars Husman is a Danish writer. He has written one novel, the dark comedy ‘Mit venskab med Jesus Kristus’ (‘My friendship with Jesus Christ’). It was published in Denmark in 2008 and has since been sold to Sweden, Norway, Lithuania, The Netherlands, France, Italy, India and The UK.
Abha Iyengar
(English/Hindi, Poetry/Fiction) Iyengar is an internationally published writer and poet. Her work has Abha appeared in Mannequin Envy, Insolent Rudder, Dead Drunk Dublin, Citizen 32, Arabesques Review and others. She is a Kota Press Poetry Anthology contest winner. Her story, ‘The High Stool’ was nominated for the Story South Million Writers Award. She is a member of The Poetry Society of India and ‘Riyaz’ Writer’s Group at The British Council. Her flash fiction has won contests at Tattoo Highway and at Door Knobs and Body Paint. Abha is fiction editor with Leadstart Publishing, Mumbai. She lives in New Delhi, India and writes primarily in English, though some of her poetry is also written in her mother tongue, Hindi.
Ram Ganesh Kamatham
(English, Drama) Ram has created work for stage, film, radio, comics and video games. In 2007, he attended the Royal Court Theatre’s International Residency for Emerging Playwrights on a Charles Wallace Award. The same year, he was also awarded a SARAI-CSDS Independent Research Fellowship for the development of his play Creeper. His play Square Root of Minus One was published by Samuel French and an extract of his play “Dancing on Glass” was included in Multiple City — Writings on Bangalore (Penguin India, 2009)Ram is the Executive Editor of PT Notes, the Prithvi Theatre’s monthly newsletter.
Manav Kaul
(Hindi, Drama/Poetry/Fiction) Manav writes in Hindi and founded the theatre group Aranya in 2004. He has written and directed several plays, including Shakkar ke Paanch Daane (translated into English as Five Grains of Sugar), Peele Scooterwala Aadmi, Bali Aur Shambhu, Ilhaam, Aisa Kehte Hain, Shabd Sangeet and Park (also translated into English under the same name). He has also adapted and directed Sartre’s No Exit into Hindi as Antaheen as well as Vijay Tendulkar’s Ashi Pakhare Yeti into Kannada. He is currently directing a play called Red Sparrow.
Ajay Krishnan
(English, Drama/Fiction) Ajay Krishnan is a writer based in Mumbai who writes in English. He has written and/or directed five plays, some of which have been performed across India. In 2008 his play titled Hair traveled to the UK for a show in Liverpool as part of the Contacting the World youth theatre festival. He is now working on animation screenplays, shorter commissioned plays and short fiction.
Madhulika Liddle
(English, Fiction) Madhulika Liddle is an Indian who worked in hospitality, advertising and instructional design before deciding to devote all her energies to writing in English. Over the years, several of her short stories have been published in anthologies or have won awards. Her story A Morning Swim, about an eight-year old orphan who dives into the Yamuna to collect coins in order to make ends meet, won the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association’s Short Story Competition in 2003. Madhulika lives in New Delhi, India, and spends her spare time reading (mainly historical detective fiction), watching old cinema, and — whenever possible — traveling.
Carlos Eduardo de Magalhaes
(Portuguese, Fiction) Carlos was born in the city of Sao Paulo. He is author of eight books, among them: Cama de pregos (Bed of nails, Grua, stories, 2009) Pitanga (Grua, novel, 2008), Dora (Atelie Editorial, novel, 2005), O primeiro inimigo (The first enemy, Atelie Editorial, novel, 2005) and Os jacares (The alligators, Cosac&Naify, novel, 2001), Mera Fotografia (Just a picture, Rocco, novel, 1998). He is also the co-writer of the screenplay of the film “Corpos Celestes”, and author of short stories and articles published in anthologies and magazines. Since 2007, Magalhaes is the editor of a new Brazilian publishing called Grua (www.grualivros.com.br). He lives with his wife and two daughters in Sao Paulo.
Perumal Murugan
(Tamil, Fiction/Criticism) Perumal Murugan writes in Tamil and is the author of four novels, three collections of short stories and three anthologies of poetry. His Tamil novels Koola Maathaari and Nizhal Mutram have been translated into English as Seasons of the Palm and Current Show. Seasons of the Palm was short-listed for the Kiriyama Award. He has received awards from the Tamil Nadu government as well as from Katha Books. Perumal is also interested in literary criticism, lexicography and publishing.
K Srilata
(English, Poetry/Fiction/Translation) A poet, fiction writer, translator and academic, Srilata is an Associate Professor (English) at IIT Madras. Based in India, Srilata writes in English and translates from Tamil. She teaches courses in Creative writing and Literature, Her debut novel Table for Four was long listed recently for the Man Asian literary prize and is to be published by Penguin India. Her books include The Rapids of a Great River: The Penguin Book of Tamil Poetry (Penguin/Viking, 2009), an anthology of poems Seablue Child (Brown Critique), The Other Half of the Coconut: Women Writing Self-Respect History (Zubaan) and Short Fiction from South India (OUP).
Stephan Thome
(German, Fiction) Born in Biedenkopf, Germany, Stephan earned an M.A. in Philosophy, Religion Studies and China Studies from the Free University Berlin in 2000 and a Ph.D. In 2004. Since 2005, Stephan has been a Visiting Scholar at Academia Sinica in Taipei, doing research on modern Confucian philosophy. His first novel, Grenzgang (Walking the Border) was published in August 2009. He is now at work on his second novel which has the working title, Dein Name sei Arnau (Arnau be Thy Name).