ELIZBETA BAKOVSKA.Born in 1969 in Bitola, Macedonia, Elizabeta Bakovska graduated from the Department of English Language and Literature at the Faculty of Philology in Skopje, and obtained her MA at the same Faculty. She has, to date, published two poetry collections ('Biography of Our Love', 2003 and 'Conditions of Body and Mind after You Turn Thirty', 2005), a collection of short stories ('Four Seasons', 2004) and a novel ('On the Road to Damascus', 2006), as well as occasional literary and critical texts. Elizabeta Bakovska is an editor of 'Blesok / Shine'. LIDIJA DIMKOVSKA. Lidija Dimkovska was born in 1971 in Skopje and obtained a doctoral degree in Romanian literature in Bucharest where she lectured in Macedonian language and literature. Her prizewinning debut collection, 'Progenies of the East' (together with Boris Cavkoski) was published in 1992, and she has since written four more books of poetry ('Fire of Letters', 'Bitten Nails', 'Nobel vs. Nobel' and 'pH Neutral for Life and Death') and has edited an anthology of young Macedonian poets. In 2006 Ugly Duckling Press, New York, published a selection of her poetry translated into English. Her poems have been translated and published in more than twenty languages all around the world. In 2004 she published her prizewinning novel 'Hidden Camera' which has already been translated in Slovenian and Slovakian with translations into Polish and Bulgarian forthcoming. She has participated at numerous international literary festivals and residencies. In 2009 she received the German prize "Hubert Burda" for younger Eastern European poets. She lives and works in Ljubljana, Slovenia. BOGOMIL GJUZEL is a poet, prose writer, playwright, essayist and translator. Born in 1939 in Eaeak, Serbia, Gjuzel graduated from the Department of English at the University of Skopje in 1963, and spent a year at the University of Edinburgh as a British Council scholar in 1964 / 65. He served two terms as a dramaturgist with Skopje's Dramski theatre (1966-1971 and 1985-1998), and took part in the 1972 / 73 International Writing Program in Iowa City, USA. He has participted in several international poetry festivals, including Rotterdam, San Francisco, Herleen, Maast-richt and Valencia, Berlin, Lodeve and Sarajevo. One of the ten founders of the Association of Independent Writers of Macedonia, Gjuzel has been editor-in-chief of its bi-monthly journal 'Nase Pismo' since 1995. He was also acting director of the Struga Poetry Evenings International Festival from 1999-2003. KATA KULAVKOVA is a Macedonian poet, theoretician of literature & literary essayist. Born in Veles in 1951, Kulavkova is a Professor of Theory of Literature, Literary Hermeneutics and Creative Writing at the Faculty of Philology, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. Her main areas of interest include: theory of literature, theory of intertextuality, literary and cultural hermeneutics, Macedonian literature, Balkan figures of memory, linguistic rights, and creative writing. Her poetry has been translated into many languages and represented in books, anthologies and selections of contemporary Macedonian, European and World poetry. Kulakova has been a member of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts since 2003, and is a manager of Interpretations, the Academy's European research project for poetics & hermeneutics (ERPH). She is also Vice President of International PEN and Editor-in-chief of the PEN collection Diversity. IGOR ISAKOVSKI, poet, prose writer, translator and editor was born in 1970 in Skopje, Macedonia. He has a B.A. in World and Comparative Literature from Sts. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, and an M.A. in Gender and Culture from CEU, Budapest. He is founder and director of the Cultural Institution Blesok, where he works as editor-in-chief. Isakovski's published books of poetry and prose include: 'Letters' (1991), 'Black Sun' (1992), 'Explosions, Pregnant Moon', and 'Eruptions' (1993), 'Vulcan - Earth - ' (1995), ' - Sky' (1996, 2000), 'Engravings, Blues Phone Booth' (2001), 'Sandglass' (2002), 'Way Down in the Hole' (poetry, 2004), 'Swimming in the Dust' (2005, awarded Prose Masters prize 2005), 'Blues Phone Booth II' (2006, awarded 2007 annual prize for best visual-graphic design of a printed book), 'Interning for a Saint' (2008), and 'The Night Is Darkest Before the Dawn' (2009). Isakovsky translates poetry, prose, and essays from and into Macedonian, English, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin, and Slovenian. His works have been translated and published in English, Dutch, Romanian, Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Montenegrin, Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Slovakian, Korean, Hebrew, and Turkish, in 20 countries. He lives in Skopje, with his wife Kalina, their daughters Sara and Lina, and all of their friends. JOVICA IVANOVSKI was born 1961, in Skopje. He is the author of the poetry collections 'Way Such Liver For Me' (1995), 'The City is Full of You' (1997), 'A Strange Kind of a Sunny Day' (1999), 'Three Forward Three Backwards' (2004), 'Double Album In the Shadow of the Billboard and Ice-cream Infinitely' (2005), 'Siesta Thirst' (2007), 'Whistling in the Wind' (2009) as well as 'Selected Poems: Open the Window and Let the City Breathe a Little', (selection of poetry in English, 2002), 'Selected Poems', (selection of poetry in English and Macedonian 2002) and 'One of These Days if Not Tomorrow', (selection of poetry in English and Macedonian (2009). Ivanovski is a long time member of the Independent Writers of Macedonia. He lives and works in Skopje.
