The list of Eastlit Writers June 2016 is alphabetical by first name:

Ann Huang

Ann Huang is a seasoned marketer with more than fifteen years of experience working with the spoken and written word. As an MFA recipient in Poetry from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, Huang’s poetry has appeared online and in print extensively. Her recent poem, “Night Lullaby,” was a Ruth Stone Poetry Prize finalist. Huang’s new poetry collection, Delicious and Alien, is due out in 2017. Her poems follow the surrealistic gestures that weave reality into divergent realms of perspectives and perceptions. Visit AnnHuang.com for more poems and press releases.

Dave Hopkins

Photos submitted by Dave Hopkins. Dave is an English teacher and trainer, and currently an English Language Specialist with the US Dept of State. The photos were taken in his front yard with a Nikon D4 with standard 50mm lens. The flowers were identified as a type of lily by the photographer’s sister who is a floral expert.

Hiraa Kazmi

Hiraa wrote her first poem for University of the Punjab’s English Department magazine “Words” and never stopped. Literature is her long time friend and she seeks refuge, advice, insight and delight in books. She is a lecturer in University of Education, Lahore, Pakistan where she teaches courses in literature. She is always seen with a book and when she is not reading, she can be seen playing with words.

Iain Maloney

Iain Maloney’s debut novel, First Time Solo, is out now on Freight Books. He is also co-editor of In The Empty Places, a collection of short stories and art for Bantuan Coffee Foundation who provide safe houses and education scholarships for the victims of child prostitution in Indonesia. @intheemptyplace .www.iainmaloney.wordpress.com

Jayendrina Singha Ray

Jayendrina Singha Ray is pursuing PhD in English from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. She has taught English at Delhi University and worked as Academic Editor with two international publishing houses. Her works have been published in The Telegraph (Calcutta), eFiction India, Contemporary Literary Review India, Indian Ruminations. She aspires to be a writer/illustrator in future.)

Matthew James Friday

Matthew James Friday is professional writer and graduate of the MA in Creative Writing at Goldsmith College, London. He has had poems and short stories published in the following worldwide magazines and literary journals: A Handful of Stones, Bad Idea Magazine, Brand Literary Magazine, Bolts of Silk, The Brasilia Review, Cadenza, Carillon, Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, Dreamcatcher, Earth Love, Erbacce, Envoi, Finger Dance Festival, Gloom Cupboard, IS&T (Ink, Sweat & Tears), The Journal, The New Writer, Orbis, Sentinel Literary Quarterly, Third Wednesday, Of Nepalese Clay, Pens on Fire, Pulsar Poetry, Rear View Poetry, Red Ink, South Bank Poetry Magazine, The Writing Shift and Writing Magazine.

MJ Shohel

Born in a remote Bangladeshi village in 1989, MJ Shohel since his childhood has been living in different towns outside his family for education purposes. Being a post-graduate on International Relations from University of Dhaka, he wishes to serve the humanity and planet earth in all possible ways. He first wrote a poem when he was a school kid imagining him as an astronaut. It is social anomalies and fantasy he mainly writes about. His first book on poetry titled “Antardaho” means Burning of Heart has been published in February 2016.

Before really dies, he does not want to be dead. He likes mystery, likes to know the unknown and loves to consider him as a life-long traveler. He also likes movie, music, painting and game.  Amidst happiness or sorrow, he enjoys every second of his life. He is involved with many youth organizations in his country and led few to the peak. He does not miss the chance to inspire friends and followers since he finds peace in others’ happiness.

Rahad Abir

Born and bred in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Rahad Abir is a fiction writer. While studying English Literature at university, he began writing short stories in his native language, Bengali. He has worked as journalist, university teacher and interpreter. His short stories have appeared in The Penmen Review, Aerodrome and Toad Suck Review. His wining story ‘‘I am in London’’ is appearing in an anthology. Currently he is working on a novel.

Richard Krause

Richard Krause lived in Japan for nine years teaching English at Ibaraki University and Tokyo Women’s College. Currently he teaches at Somerset Community College in Kentucky.

His collection of fiction, Studies in Insignificance, was published by Livingston Press and his epigram collection, Optical Biases, was published by Eyecorner Press in Denmark.

Seventy of his epigrams are translated into Italian at aforisticamente.wordpress.com, an international website for aphorists.  His writing has more recently appeared in The Alembic,

J Journal, Hotel Amerika, Scapegoat Review, Red Savina Review, and The Long Story.

Ruvindra Sathsarani

Ruvindra Sathsarani is an undergraduate of English from University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.  She has been contributing to local English newspapers with reviews on novels and poetry.  She also writes on issues regarding women, education and children in Sri Lanka. Her work can be accessed on
www.ruvindramusings.wordpress.com

Shehzad Ghias Shaikh

Shehzad Ghias Shaikh has a M.A. in Theatre from Brooklyn College, New York and a B.A. and L.L.B. from LUMS. Shehzad’s plays have been produced on Broadway in New York and repeatedly in Pakistan. Shehzad runs a theater production company in Pakistan and performs stand up and improvisational comedy in Pakistan and New York.Shehzad also writes for various publications, including DAWN and Express Tribune.

Smita Bhattacharya

A nerd, feminist and lover of all things quirky, Smita is an award winning short story writer based out of Mumbai. She has published two books ─ “He Knew a Firefly” and “Vengeful” ─ both in a genre she labels as literary, emotional thrillers. Her short stories have won numerous awards and have been published at national and international journals. Evocative, lyrical and heart-wrenching are some of the words that have been used to describe her stories. More about her can be found athttp://www.smitabhattacharya.com/

Sue Herbert

Sue Herbert is a writer and translator now based in the UK after living and working many years in Japan. She moved to Kobe from Tokyo just eight weeks before the deadly quake of 1995.

Sze-Leng Tan

Sze-Leng Tan is an academic and writer of poems and short stories. Her poems were published in The Malaysian Poetic Chronicles.

Wan Phing Lim

Wan Phing Lim was born to Malaysian parents in 1986 in Butterworth, Penang. She is a full-time writer living in Singapore, where her poems and short stories have been published by Ethos Books, Math Paper Press and the National Library Board. She was also a finalist at the Esquire x Montblanc Fiction Project for her story ‘Oil & Water’.

William Marr

William Marr has published 23 volumes of poetry (3 in English and the rest in his native Chinese language), 3 books of essays and several books of translations. His most recent book, Chicago Serenade, a trilingual (Chinese/English/French) poetry anthology, was published in Paris in 2015. His poetry has been translated into more than ten languages and included in over one hundred anthologies. Some of his poems are used in high school and college textbooks in Taiwan, China, England, and Germany. He is a former president of the Illinois State Poetry Society and has received numerous awards, including three from Taiwan for his poetry and translations. A PhD recipient and a retired research engineer, he now resides in a Chicago suburb.