Aleksandar Hemon - Best European Fiction 2013

TANIA MALYARCHUKwas born in 1983 in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, and is considered one of Ukraine’s most talented young prose writers. Her first novel, Adolpho’s Endspiel, or a Rose for Liza, appeared in 2004. Her later collections of short fiction include From Above Looking Down: A Book of Fears (2006), How I Became a Saint (2006), To Speak (2007), and Bestiary of Words (2009). She is the only Ukrainian writer under thirty to have had her collected works published in a single volume (as The Divine Comedy , in 2009). In 2012 she published her second novel The Biography of a Chance Miracle. She splits her time between Vienna and Ivano-Frankivsk.

MIKE MCCORMACKwas born in London in 1965 and grew up in Ireland. His first collection of short stories, Getting it in the Head (1996), won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 1996 and was New York Times Book of the Year in 1998. He co-wrote the screenplay for an award-winning short film adaption of one of the stories in the collection, “The Terms.” He has also published two novels, Crowe's Requiem (1998) and Notes from a Coma (2005), which was shortlisted for the Irish Book of the Year Award in 2006. He is currently writer-in-residence at the University of Ireland in Galway and teaches fiction writing for the MA program there.

SEMEZDIN MEHMEDINOVIĆwas born in 1960 in Kiseljak, Bosnia. He is a writer, filmmaker, and editor, and is the author of five books, two of which—the poetry collection Nine Alexandrias (2003) and the acclaimed novel Sarajevo Blues (2001)—are available in English translation. When the war in Bosnia began in 1992, he and his family remained as “internally displaced” persons in besieged Sarajevo. Together with friends, he started a new magazine Dani (Days), in an effort to support the spirit of democratic rule and pluralism during what soon became a systematic genocide against his compatriots. The magazine remains Bosnia’s leading news and cultural venue. His articles, poems, and essays have been translated and published in leading European and American newspapers and magazines, including The Village Voice, Conjunctions, TriQuarterly, Der Spiegel , and others. He and his family arrived in the US in 1996 as political refugees and currently live in Alexandria, Virginia.

LYDIA MISCHKULNIGlives in Vienna, Austria. She has won numerous prizes, including the Bertelsmann Literature prize, the Elias Canetti Award, the Austrian Literary Scholarship, and the Joseph Roth Award. Her publications in German include Umarmung (Embrace, 2002), Hollywood im Winter (Hollywood in Winter, 1996 and 2012), Macht euch keine Sorgen (Don’t Worry, 2009), and Schwestern der Angst (Sisters of Fear, 2010). She maintains a website at www.lydiamischkulnig.net and publishes essays in Spectrum ( Die Presse ) and Album ( Der Standard ).

DRAGAN RADULOVICwas born in Cetinje, Montenegro, in 1969. He published his first collection of short stories, Petrifikacija (Petrification) in 2001 and his first novel Auschwitz Café , in 2003. He also published two collections of short pieces, Vitezovi ništavila (Knights of Nothingness, 2005), and Splav Meduze (The Raft of the Medusa, 2007). Dragan Radulović currently lives in Budva, where he teaches philosophy at the Danilo Kiš Secondary School and writes essays and literary reviews for Montenegrin periodicals.

TIINA RAEVAARAwas born in 1979 in Kerava, Finland. In 2005 she received her doctorate in genetics from the University of Helsinki. Her first novel, Eräänä päivänä tyhjä taivas (One Day, an Empty Sky) was published in 2008. Her first collection of short stories, En tunne sinua vierelläni (I Don’t Feel You Beside Me, 2010) won the prestigious Runeberg prize. Her most recently work is a scientific exploration of the relationship between dogs and humans Koiraksi ihmisille (About Dogs and Humans, 2011). Her fiction, which draws on elements of science fiction, fantasy, and surrealism, stands apart from the largely realistic mainstream of contemporary Finnish literature.

MARIE REDONNETwas born Martine l'Hospitalier in 1948 in Paris. Her first publication was a volume of poetry, Le Mort & Cie , in 1985 ( Dead Man & Company , 2005). Her works since include short story collections, novels, and dramatic works, are available in English translation: Forever Valley (1992), Hôtel Splendid (1994), Rose Méllie Rose (1994) , Candy Story (1995), and Nevermore (1996). In 2006-2007, she was visiting professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder. She currently divides her time between Morocco and Aix en Provence.

GUNDEGA REPŠEwas born in 1960 in Riga, Latvia. A graduate of the Latvian State Art Academy, Repše made her literary debut at nineteen with her short story “A Camel in Olde Towne of Riga.” Since then, she has authored five short-story collections and seven novels, and she is considered one of contemporary Latvia’s most brilliant writers. Repše’s interest in cultural processes and art are apparent in her biographical novel-essays on Latvian artists and countless reviews and columns in major literary magazines and newspapers. Repše’s work has also been adapted for the stage in Latvia—the play Stigma at the Daile Theater; the play Smagais metals (Heavy Metal), based on the novel Alvas kliedziens (The Tin Scream), at the New Riga Theater; and the play Juras velni (Sea Devils) at the National Theater.

ELOY TIZÓNwas born in Madrid in 1964. His novel Velocidad de los jardines (1992) was hailed by critics as one of the most interesting Spanish novels of the last 25 years. His novel Seda salvaje (1995) was finalist for the Thirteenth Premio Herralde prize. Excerpts of his work have been translated into English, French, Italian, German and, Finnish. His most recently novel is Parpadeos (2006).

IEVA TOLEIKYTĖwas born in 1989 in Vilnius, Lithuania. She is currently studying Scandinavian philology at Vilnius University. She became interested in literature in early childhood and began writing quite young—at first some abstract sketches and poems before going on to short stories. In 2009 her first collection of short stories, Garstyciunamas (The House of Mustard), was published; “The Eye of the Maples,” which comes from that collection, is her first piece to be translated into English. She has also published poems and short stories in various Lithuanian magazines.

MIKLÓS VAJDAwas born in 1931 and is editor emeritus of The Hungarian Quarterly , for which he worked from 1964, becoming editor in 1990. His “essay-memoir” Anyakép, amerikai keretben (Portrait of a Mother in an American Frame) was published in Hungarian in 2010. He has translated numerous American and British plays into Hungarian, and he currently lives in Budapest.

ANNA ASLANYANis a journalist and translator. She co-edits 3:AM magazine and writes for various publications, mainly on books and the arts. Her translations into Russian include works of fiction by Tom McCarthy, Martin Amis, Peter Ackroyd, Mavis Gallant, and Zadie Smith. She has translated a number of essays and short stories from Russian into English.

SHUSHAN AVAGYANis the translator from Russian of Energy of Delusion, Bowstring, and A Hunt for Optimism by Viktor Shklovsky, and, from Armenian, I Want to Live: Poems of Shushanik Kurghinian . She currently teaches at the American University of Armenia.