(South Africa) followed in the seventies a postgraduate study at the De Vooijs-Instituut in Utrecht. After that she returned to Capetown where she became an editor of children's books at Tafelberg Publishers. Nowadays she is a publisher of Kwela Books, a small publishing house in the Nasboek Conglomerate. Since 1994 she publishes work of contemporary South African writers. South African literature is a better reflection of the whole population. Van der Merwe is a member of various boards, amongst others at Book Development Trust of South Africa. In 2003 she was invited for the third time by the Frankfurter Buchmesse, as part of the programme for small publishing houses from Asia, Africa and Latin America.

(Aruba, 1959) Lasana M. Sekou is the author of 13 books of poetry, short stories, monologues and essays. Born Harold Hermano Lake in Aruba in 1959, he grew up in Sint Maarten. Sekou studied political science and mass communication in the USA, where he changed his name to Lasana (poet) Sekou (warrior). His books, such as The Salt Reaper and Nativity, have been required reading at Caribbean and North American universities. He is the editor of National Symbols of St. Martin and The Independence Papers – Readings on a New Political Status for St. Maarten/St. Martin. He also produced Fête – The first recording of traditional St. Martin festive music. Sekou lectures on history, culture, politics and literature at schools, universities and festivals throughout the world. His poetry has appeared in journals such as The Massachusetts Review, Del Caribe, De Gids, and Boundary 2. In 1982, Sekou founded House of Nehesi Publishers in New York. In 1984, he established the small press in Sint Maarten, where he lives and continues to publish well-known and new writers www.houseofnehesipublish.com.

(Marken, 1958-2009) was a poet, a writer and a commentator, with a regular column on the Forum page and the book pages of the Volkskrant. Zeeman was the editor of the arts section of the Volkskrant and from 2006-2007 its Rome correspondent. In 2006 he and the writer Abdelkader Benali published an exchange of letters, exchanging ideas on politics, life, love and literature. In 2002 Zeeman received the Gouden Ganzenveer (Golden Goose Quill) for his merits for Dutch literature. Zeeman became well-known in the 1990s as the host of his monthly book programme 'Late at night after a short walk', later to be renamed 'Zeeman with books'. In 1991 he published his first volume of poetry, Beeldenstorm (Iconoclasm), winning him the C. Buddingh Prize. His second volume Verhoudingen (Relationships) appeared in 1995. In the same year he published short stories entitled De Verduistering (The Darkening). He died in 2009.

(Zimbabwe, 1962) graduated from the University of Zimbabwe and is a honorary fellow at the University of Iowa. In 1989 he published his first collection of poems Rukuvhute, which in 1990 received an honourable mention at the Noma Awards. His other collections of poems are Champupuri (1994) and Hakurarwi, We Shall not Sleep (1998). He is known as one of the most talented performing poets and storytellers of Zimbabwe. Further more he has also written several children's books. Chirikure Chirikure reads his poetry in Shona and English and most of the time performs together with his band DeteMbira. Backed by this group he made the CD Napukeni. He has worked as a publisher for quite some time and is now a consultant in Harare. Chirikure Chirikure assists in the editing of the Zimbabwean part of the Poetry International Web.
WIN 2004

(1970, Pekalongan, Indonesia) is essayist and literary translator. He works as an editor for amongst others Kalam, a contemporary art magazine, a publication of Komunitas Utan Kayu in Jakarta. Alongside this he is head of the poetry editorial of Kompas, one of the large Indonesian newspapers. Works by Hasif Amini are: The Poets’ Chant (translated from the Indonesian, 1995) and the following anthologies, put together by him: Para Pembohong (The liers, short stories, 1996) and Utan Kayu: Tokoh dalam Montase (Utan Kayu: Personae in Montage, 2001).
WIN2004

(Costa Rica) is a film academic, general director of the Costarican Center for Film Production and chairwoman of FUNDACINE, a funding body that supports and stimulates audiovisual productions made in Central America and the Carribean. She studied in Paris at the Sorbonne and is expert in the field of screen adaption of Latin American novels. She is a tutor and academic attached to the University of Costa Rica and to the private School of Film and Television. Cortés was involved in the production of the films El Dorado and Eulalia. Alongside that she produced many documentaries, commercials and video clips for Costarican companies. From 1994 to 1998 she worked as adviser for the minister for cultural affairs at the Costa Rican embassy in France. During this period she organised the project Les Belles Etrangeres, that in 1997 was dedicated to Central American literature. Cortés wrote various books and articles for professional film and communication journals.

(Colombia, 1937) is a poet, journalist and writer of short stories and the 'anti-novel' Los cuadernos de N. This is considered a cult book amongst the Colombian youth. He translated works of Flaubert, Shakespeare, Balzac,Yeats, Rimbaud and Blake, and also translated his own work into English. He studied at the universities of Iowa and Berlin and was director of Buchholz, the largest bookstore in Bogota. Suescún was the director of the magazine Eco, and chief editor of the magazine Cromos. He was English teacher and the director of the librairy of the National University of Colombia. As a graphic designer he exhibited in various galeries in places such as Berlin. Suescún has published a number of poetry collections, from which he made a selection for his collection La voz de nadie.
WIN2004

(India 1963) is a curator, chairwoman and coordinator of KHOJ International Artists Association. KHOJ promotes intercultural relations by means of exchange programs. Sood worked with artist groups in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, and was for three years the director of the Eicher Gallery in New Delhi. It was here that she initiated an art education project for schoolchildren and adults and she organised twenty or more exhibitions. In January 2002 she was appointed as adviser to the Apeejay Media Gallery, the first new media galery in India. Sood participated throughout the world in forums, concerning contemporary Indian art, art management and South Asiatic art. She is also an art critic and compiler of several catalogues. Sood is at this moment busy organizing a network for artists in South Asia. The exhibition 'From Goddess to Pinup: Icons of Femininity in Indian Calendar Art', which she organised together with Patricia Uberoi, was to be seen in Europe and America.
WIN2003

(Sri Lanka, 1962) is nationally and internationally recognized as the talent of the Sri Lanka cinema. From a young age he occupied himself with theater. He translated and directed Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man and Dario Fo's Raspberries and Trumpets. In 1992 he made his first film Sisila Gini Gani (Ice on Fire),four years later followed by Anantha Rathriya (Dark night of the soul), for which he also wrote the script. In 1997 he made two films: Pawuru Walulu (Walls within) and Purahanda Kaluwara (Death on a Full Moon Day), which was initially boycotted. Vithanage won the lawsuit against the ban on showing the film and after that Purahanda Kaluwara became one of the most succesful films of Sri Lanka's film history. Vithanage's films are shown in festivals worldwide and have won many prizes. On January 15 and 16 and February 4 of this year the Tropical Institute in Amsterdam organizes a restrospective on Prasanna Vithanage. You will be able to see Purahanda Kaluwara , Pawuru Walalu and his latest film Ira Madiyama (August Sun).