Natasza Goerke Tomaz Salamun

(b. 1960, Poznan) has published two books of short fiction in her native Poland and one in German translation. Her work is also included in The Eagle and the Crow (Serpent’s Tail, 1996), an anthology of contemporary Polish prose. Her third book, Pozegnania plazmy (Czarne), and her first book in English, Farewells to Plasma (Twisted Spoon Press), are forthcoming this year. She lives in Hamburg.

Herberto Helder

(b. 1930, on the island of Madeira - 2015, Cascais, Portugal) has published several collections of verse in Portugal, nearly all of which have been incorporated into successive editions of his Poesia Toda [Complete Poetry]. He traveled extensively throughout Europe and Africa, supporting himself as a journalist or day laborer.

Sharon Hass

(b. 1966, Ramat Gan, Israel) won two prizes for her first book of poems, The Mountain Mother is Gone. She lives in Tel Aviv, where she is completing a degree in Religious Studies at Tel Aviv University.

Antonio Franco Alexandre

(b. 1944, Viseu) has published nine books of poems in his native Portugal. His most recent book, Quatro Caprichos, was published in 1999. He lives in Lisbon, where he teaches philosophy at the University of Lisbon.

Uche Nduka

(b. 1963, Nigeria) has published three books of poems, most recently a bilingual German-English volume, The Bremen Poems. He has served as General Secretary of the Nigerian Poets’ League and curently teaches African literature at the University of Bremen.

Amir Or

(b. 1956, Tel Aviv) has published six books of poems in his native Israel. His work has been widely translated, including publications in Arabic, Russian, Japanese, and Greek, In 1990, he co-founded the Helicon Society for the Advancement of Poetry in Israel. He lives in Tel Aviv.

Milosz Biedrzycki

(a.k.a. MLB, b. 1967, Slovenia) has published three books of poetry in Poland, where he has lived since childhood. He works as a geophysical engineer and has spent much of the last years living in Egypt, Syria, and Texas.

(1941, Zagreb - 2014, Ljubljana) published 29 books of poems in Slovenia as well as numerous translations. His books in English include The Four Questions of Melancholy (White Pine Press, 1998).

Marcin Swietlicki

(b. 1961, Lublin) has published six books of poetry in his native Poland. He lives in Kraków, where he is also lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Swietliki.

Eleni Sikelianos

(b. 1965, Santa Barbara, CA) has published two books of poems and four chapbook collections. Her work has also been included in the anthologies Gertrude Stein Awards for Innovative American Writing (Sun & Moon) and The New (American) Poets (Talisman). She received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for Poetry in 1996 and is the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship this year. She lives in New York.

Mohammed Choukri

(b. 1935, Rif, Morocco - 2003, Rabat). Raised in abject poverty, he learned to read and write at the age of nineteen. His autobiographical novel al-Khubz al-hafi has been translated into thirteen languages, into English by Paul Bowles as For Bread Alone (City Lights, 1973).

Ales Debeljak

(b. 1961, Ljubljana), a poet, essayist, and translator, is a Contributing Editor to Trafika. He has published eight books of essays and five books of poems in his native Slovenia. His work has been widely translated, including publications in Japanese, Czech, Polish, and Hungarian. His books in English include Anxious Moments and Twlight of the Idols: Recollections of a Lost Yugoslavia (White Pine Press). He lives in Ljubjlana.

Michael Loutzenhiser

Michael Loutzenhiser (b. 1974) lives in Idylwild, CA. The poems in this issue of Trafika are his first published works.

Peter Nadas

(b. 1942, Budapest). His novels in English include The End of a Family Story and A Book of Memories (Farrar, Straus & Giroux). A Lovely Tale of Photography, from which this excerpt is taken, is now published by Twisted Spoon Press. Nadas lives in the Hungarian countryside.