Michael Biggins has translated over fifteen book-length literary works from Slovenian, including the novels of Drago Jančar, collections of poetry by Tomaž Šalamun, the Holocaust memoir Necropolis by Triestine Slovenian author Boris Pahor, and Slovenia’s all-time best-selling novel Alamut by Vladimir Bartol. In 2015 he was awarded the Janko Lavrin Diploma of the Society of Slovene Literary Translators for distinguished contributions to Slovene literature abroad. He lives in Seattle, where he curates the Slavic and East European library collections at the University of Washington and teaches in the University’s Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.
Christopher Merrill has published seven collections of poetry, including Watch Fire, for which he received the Lavan Younger Poets Award from the Academy of American Poets; many edited volumes and translations; and six books of nonfiction, among them, <em>Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars</em>, <em>Things of the Hidden God: Journey to the Holy Mountain, The Tree of the Doves: Ceremony, Expedition, War</em>, and <em>Self-Portrait with Dogwood</em>. As director of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa since 2000, Merrill has conducted cultural diplomacy missions to more than fifty countries.
Tomaž Šalamun was a Slovenian poet who was a leading figure of postwar neo-avant-garde poetry in Central Europe and an internationally acclaimed absurdist. His more than 50 books of Slovene poetry have been translated into more than twenty-five languages.
Christopher Merrill has published seven collections of poetry, including Watch Fire, for which he received the Lavan Younger Poets Award from the Academy of American Poets; many edited volumes and translations; and six books of nonfiction, among them, Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars, Things of the Hidden God: Journey to the Holy Mountain, The Tree of the Doves: Ceremony, Expedition, War, and Self-Portrait with Dogwood. As director of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa since 2000, Merrill has conducted cultural diplomacy missions to more than fifty countries.