Irina Mashinski is a bilingual poet and translator, the author of seven books of poetry and a book of translations. Her poetry has been translated into Serbian, Italian, English, Spanish and French and is regularly featured in most of the leading literary periodicals and anthologies in Russia and abroad. Her most recent Russian books of poems, Volk (Wolf, Selected Poems) and Raznochinets and Other Poems came out in 2009 in Moscow and New York respectively. Irina Mashinski is the winner of several literary awards, including the first prizes at the Russian America (2001), Maximilian Voloshin (2003), and other poetry contests.

Sasha Dugdale was born in Sussex. Between 1995 and 2000 she worked for the British Council in Russia, where she set up the Russian New Writing Project with the Royal Court Theatre. She currently works as a translator and consultant for the Royal Court and other theatre companies. Many of her translations have been staged, one of which, Plasticine by Vassily Sigarev, won the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright. She has published two collections of translations of Russian poetry and, with Carcanet, three collections of her own poetry, Notebook (2003), The Estate (2007) and Red House (2011).

By: Matthew Platts
Last updated: Monday, 24 September 2012