Valzhyna Mort

[2] Her first American publication, Factory of Tears (Copper Canyon Press, 2008), the first Belarusian/English poetry published in the U.S., was co-translated from the Belarusian by Elizabeth Oehlkers Wright and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Franz Wright.

The poems juxtapose youthful coming-of-age to the struggles of a nation's emergent vitality.

She received her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from American University.

Known throughout Europe for her live performances, Mort works explicitly to reestablish a clear identity for Belarus and its language.

[5] In 2021 she won the Griffin Poetry Prize in the international category, for Music for the Dead and Resurrected.