[Taipei] 2006 Taipei Poetry Festival

Poetry as a representation of the multi-cultural scenery of today's world has always been the main focus of Taipei Poetry Festival. After last year's theme, the Middle East World, this year we concentrate on other forgotten corners of the world in order to help Taiwanese people understand other cultures and to expand their perspective. This year, five poets from Cuba, Chechnya, Basque, Macedonia, and Taiwan will be represented at the festival. Apti Bisultanov (Chechnya) Apti Bisultanov was born in 1959 in Chechnya. He studied philology and worked as a lecturer, editor, publisher, and partisan. In 1992 he received the Chechen National Award. Since 2002 he has lived in Berlin. He was awarded the Poets of All Nations Foundation in 2003. Zoran Anchevski (Macedonia) Zoran Anchevski was born in 1954 in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. He is the Professor of English and American literature at Skopje University, a member of Macedonian Writers' Association, a member of Literary Federation for World Peace (International Advisory Board), and the former secretary of Macedonian P.E.N. Currently he is the President of the organizing board of the international festival Struga Poetry Evenings. Nancy Morejon (Cuba) Nancy Morejon was born in 1944 in Havana, Cuba. She is one of Cuba's major authors and also a major contemporary Caribbean poet (in Spanish). She is a powerful player in bringing the Cuban, Caribbean, and Latin American woman's voice to poetry. The National Literary Award was conferred on her in 2001. This was the first time a black woman was awarded Cuba's most prestigious literary prize. Kirmen Uribe （Basque） Kirmen Uribe, born in 1970, is a member of the first post-Franco generation of Basque-language writers. His first collection of poetry won Spain's 2001 Premio de la Critica. He has also been a music and multimedia collaborator. Shoo-tao Shoo-tao was born in 1934 in China. He arrived in Taiwan in 1950. He joined the "Modernism" movement in 1956 and ended his creative activity in the early 60’s. It was in 1985 when he resumed writing. Now he is one of the most important prose poetry writers in Chinese literature. He now resides in the United States.