S. Joseph
(India, 1965)
S. Joseph (born 1965) is a Malayalam poet with four acclaimed poetry collections to his …
Rami Saari
(Israel, 1963)
Rami Saari was born in Petah Tikva, Israel, and spent his childhood in Argentina and in …
Jaime Sabines
(Mexico, 1926–1999)
Jaime Sabines Gutiérrez was a Mexican contemporary poet. Known as “the …
Miltos Sachtouris
(Greece, 1919)
The rejection of a decorative use of poetic language, and the greatest possible …
Mamta Sagar
(India, 1966)
Mamta Sagar is a Kannada poet, playwright and academic. She has published three …
Amina Saïd
(Tunisia, 1953)
Amina Saïd was born in Tunis in 1953 to a Tunisian father and a French mother during …
Tomaž Šalamun
(Slovenia, 1941–2014)
The Slovenian poet Tomaž Šalamun is too slippery to be compared to anything; his …
Abdel-ilah Salhi
(Morocco, 1968)
Abdel-ilah Salhi was born in 1968 in Beni Mellal, Morocco, but spent most of his …
Salma
(India, 1968)
Salma is a writer of Tamil poetry and fiction. Based in the small town of …
María Clemencia Sánchez
(Colombia, 1970)
María Clemencia Sánchez, a poet and translator, studied languages at the Universidad de …
Eugenia Sánchez Nieto
(Colombia, 1953)
Born in Bogotá, in a time of great civil unrest, Eugenia Sánchez Nieto (known by her …
Zvisinei Sandi
(Zimbabwe, 1973)
ZVISINEI SANDI was born in Mount Darwin, Zimbabwe. She says of herself, “Writing is my …
K. G. Sankara Pillai
(India, 1948)
Born in 1948, K.G. Sankara Pillai is one of Kerala’s finest poets. A recipient of …
Flavio Santi
(Italy, 1973)
Flavio Santi was born in Alessandria, Italy in 1973. He currently divides his time …
Maya Sarishvili
(Georgia, 1968)
There are two things that the Georgian poet Maia Sarisjvili (1968) clearly cannot get …
Fungisayi Sasa
(Zimbabwe, 1983)
Fungisayi Sasa is a Zimbabwean writer living in England. Her first children’s …
K. Satchidanandan
(India, 1946)
K. Satchidanandan (1946) is a leading Indian poet writing in Malayalam, his mother …
Eugène Savitzkaya
(Belgium, 1955)
Most of the texts by Eugène Savitzkaya are labelled as ‘novels’, but all of his work – …
Wadih Sa’adeh
(Lebanon, 1948)
Born in the village of Shabtin in Northern Lebanon in 1948, Wadih Sa’adah spent his …
Alfred Schaffer
(Netherlands, 1973)
One of the most talented poets of his generation writing in Dutch, Alfred Schaffer …
Silke Scheuermann
(Germany, 1973)
Silke Scheuermann received the prestigious Leonce-und-Lena-Preis in 2001 for her debut …
K. Schippers
(Netherlands, 1936)
K. Schippers (the pseudonym of Gerard Stigter; Amsterdam, 1936) made his first …
André Schmitz
(Belgium, 1929)
‘The poet is the surveyor of the invisible,’ writes André Schmitz, …
Raoul Schrott
(Austria, 1966)
Raoul Schrott (1966) is at home in many countries, languages and cultures. He is the …
Maurice Scully
(Ireland, 1952)
Maurice Scully published his first book of poems, Love Poems and Others, in …
George Seferis
(Turkey, 1900)
George Seferis was born in Smyrna in 1900 and died in Athens in 1971. In 1931 he …
Lutz Seiler
(Germany, 1963)
Grey images of ore mines and post-war dearth rise from the poems of Lutz Seiler. The …
Lasana M. Sekou
(Netherlands Antilles, 1959)
Lasana M. Sekou is the pen name of H.H. Lake. Sekou was born on Aruba, but grew up on …
Peter Semolič
(Slovenia, 1967)
Peter Semolič is the leading voice of the youngest generation of Slovenian poets. …
Sudeep Sen
(India, 1964)
Sudeep Sen is the author of more than fifteen books and chapbooks of poetry. He studied …
Mithu Sen
(India, 1971)
[Mithu Sen was selected by Sudeep Sen for this special edition devoted to “poets as …
Mandakranta Sen
(India, 1972)
Mandakranta Sen is a prominent voice in contemporary Bengali poetry. Her literary …
Andrej Sen-Senkov
(Russian Federation, 1968)
Andrei Sen-Senkov (Andrei Senkov, Kansay) went to medical school in Dushanbe, …
Jorge de Sena
(Portugal, 1919–1978)
Jorge de Sena is one of the most important Portuguese poets of the second half of the …
Marcin Sendecki
(Poland, 1967)
After the fall of Communism a new generation of poets took the stage that, for the …
Mallika Sengupta
(India, 1960)
Mallika Sengupta is a proponent of an unapologetically political poetry and an …
Olive Senior
(Jamaica, 1943)
Olive Senior worked in journalism in Jamaica and Canada, and lives alternately in both …
Mongane Wally Serote
(South Africa, 1944)
Mongane Wally Serote was born in Sophiatown on 8 May 1944, just four years before the …
Vijay Seshadri
(India, 1954)
Vijay Seshadri has written three collections of poetry, most recently The …
Vikram Seth
(India, 1952)

Aharon Shabtai
(Mandatory Palestine, 1939)
Aharon Shabtai was born in 1939 in Tel Aviv and spent his childhood on Kibbutz …
Nano Shabtai
(Israel, 1975)
Poet, dramatist and director Nano Shabtai was born in the small, secular center of …
Sara Shagufta
(Pakistan, 1954–1984)
Sara Shagufta is an enigmatic character in Pakistani literary history. There are …
Chandrakant Shah
(India, 1956)
Born in 1956, Chandrakant (or Chandu) Shah is a Boston-based Gujarati poet and …
Yudit Shahar
(Israel, 1959)
If Yudit Shahar may be compared to any other poet, it is to the American Philip Levine, …
Shang Ch'in
(China, 1930–2010)
Shang Ch’in (1930) was born in southern China and has lived in Taiwan since 1948.
Shang Qin
(China, 1930)
Shang Qin was born in southern China and has lived in Taiwan since 1948. ‘When I look …
Ravi Shankar
(USA, 1975)
Ravi Shankar is a poet, translator and professor of poetry, based in Connecticut, …
Jo Shapcott
(United Kingdom, 1953)
Jo Shapcott was born in 1953 in London and educated in Dublin and Oxford and at …
Yash Sharma
(India, 1929)
Yash Sharma is a leading Dogri poet, playwright and lyricist. Although widely known for …
Benju Sharma
(Nepal, 1947)
The eldest child of the Nepali dramatist Bhim Niddhi Tiwari, Benju Sharma has a …
Eileen Sheehan
(Ireland, 1963)
Though set for the most part in her native Kerry, Sheehan’s poetry is far more …
Ilan Sheinfeld
(Israel, 1960)
Writer and Gay activist Ilan Sheinfeld was born in Tel Aviv. He is one of the first Gay …
Sheng Xing
(China, 1978)
For Sheng Xing, a disquieting new voice in contemporary Chinese literature, poetry …
Kazue Shinkawa
(Japan, 1929)
Kazue Shinkawa was born in 1929 in Ibaragi Prefecture, Japan. Since her first book of …
Kazuko Shiraishi
(Canada, 1931)
Kazuko Shiraishi (Vancouver, 1931) had her breakthrough in the 1950s as a female poet …
Warsan Shire
(Kenya, 1988)
Warsan Shire showed her first poem to her father at the age of 11, won an international …
Shona Praise Poetry
(Zimbabwe)
Shona praise poetry is referred to in Shona as nhetembo dzemadzinza, which means …
Girgis Shoukry
(Egypt, 1967)
Girgis Shoukry was born into a Coptic family in Sohag, Egypt, some 500 km south of …
Shrinivási
(Suriname, 1926)
Poetry International has an extensive online collection of poetry and poets, but our …
Lyor Shternberg
(Israel, 1967)
The poetry of Lyor Shternberg “deflects attention to the dark stains of reality, …
Shuijing Zhulian
(China, 1981)
The rapid growth of the internet in China over the last five years has given rise to a …
Vinod Kumar Shukla
(India, 1937)
Vinod Kumar Shukla was selected by Hindi poet Mangalesh Dabral for the special …
Rabison Shumba
(Zimbabwe)
Rabison Shumba is an author, speaker, poet, and life-coach. His books include The …
Penelope Shuttle
(United Kingdom, 1947)
“In my poetry I give primacy to the breath. For me it is the way the poem breathes …
Benjamin Shvili
(Israel, 1954)
Writer Benjamin Shvili is hard to classify. He is, according to scholar Nili Gold, a …
John Siddique
(United Kingdom, 1964)
John Siddique is a poet, whose first full collection of poetry The Prize …
Ron Silliman
(USA, 1946)
Ron Silliman (1946, Pasco, Washington) is a poet, critic, essayist, blogger and market …
José Miguel Silva
(Portugal, 1969)
José Miguel Silva was born in 1969 in Northern Portugal, in the coastal city of Vila …
Charles Simic
(Yemen, 1938)

Gali-Dana Singer
(Russia, 1962)
Painting by: Nekoda Singer Gali-Dana Singer, born in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) in …
Kedarnath Singh
(India, 1934)
Born in 1934, Kedarnath Singh is widely acknowledged as one of the major writers of …
Udaya Narayana Singh
(India, 1951)
Udaya Narayana Singh (born 1951) is a reputed poet, playwright and essayist in Maithili …
Yumlembam Ibomcha Singh
(India, 1949)
Yumlembam Ibomcha Singh (born 1949) is one of the leading poets from the North-eastern …
Peter Sirr
(Ireland, 1960)
Peter Sirr, a freelance writer and translator, is one of Ireland’s most …
Lemn Sissay
(United Kingdom, 1967)
Lemn Sissay is a poet and a performer. He has published several volumes of poetry, …
Aryeh Sivan
(Mandatory Palestine, 1929–2015)
Aryeh Sivan’s poetry has been said to evoke a sense of shared public experience …
Lennart Sjögren
(Sweden, 1930)
Lennart Sjögren was born in the village of Böda on the Swedish island of …
Sjón
(Iceland, 1962)
Sigurjón Birgir Sigurdsson who made his name as Sjón, is one of the best-known of …
Peter Skrzynecki
(Germany, 1945)
The first poem Peter Skrzynecki remembers writing, in 1964, was called ‘The guaranteed …
Andriana Škunca
(Croatia, 1944)
Andriana Škunca was born in Bjelovar in 1944. In her early childhood she and her …
Ivan Slamnig
(Croatia, 1930–2001)
Poet, story teller, dramatist, literary theorist and translator, born in 1930 in …
J. Slauerhoff
(The Netherlands, 1898–1936)
J. Slauerhoff is one of the greatest Dutch poets of the twentieth century. He owes the …
Tom Sleigh
(USA, 1953)
Tom Sleigh is the author of more than half a dozen volumes of poetry. Space Walk …
Hans Sleutelaar
(Netherlands, 1935)
Two poetry collections were published by Hans Sleutelaar, with a 25-year pause between …
Adam Small
(South Africa, 1936)
Adam Small was born on the 21st of December 1936 in Wellington in the Boland region of …
Dorothea Smartt
(United Kingdom, 1963)
Dorothea Smartt has been a prominent voice for black women poets since the 1980s, …
Patricia Smith
(USA, 1955)
Patricia Smith began her career in the Chicago of the late 1980s: the cradle of poetry …
Vivian Smith
(Australia, 1933)
Vivian Smith was born in Hobart in 1933. He lectured in the French Department of the …
Gerard Smyth
(Ireland, 1951)
Gerard Smyth was born in Dublin in 1951. His first two books were published by the New …
Paul Snoek
(Belgium, 1933–1981)
Paul Snoek, the pseudonym of Edmond Schietekat, was one of the most celebrated and …
Damir Šodan
(Croatia, 1964)
Damir Šodan, one of the most interesting and talented Croatian poets of the …
Albertina Soepboer
(The Netherlands, 1969)
Albertina Soepboer was born in the small town of Holwerd in the Dutch province of …
Varjesh Solanki
(India, 1970)
Varjesh Solanki works with an engineering firm in Mumbai. His collection, Varjesh …
Kelwyn Sole
(South Africa, 1951)
In 1951, Kelwyn Sole was born into a lower-middle-class Johannesburg family. In a 1994 …
Karen Solie
(Canada, 1966)
Karen Solie was born in Moose Jaw in the province of Saskatchewan. She initially wanted …
Ronny Someck
(Iraq, 1951)
Ronny Someck’s poetry, which has both a local and a universal flavor, has the ability …
Piotr Sommer
(Poland, 1948)
Piotr Sommer is a poet, translator, anthology editor and essayist. He regularly gives …
Song Lin
(China, 1959)
Song Lin 宋琳 was born in Fujian, graduated from East China Normal University in 1983. He …
Song Xiaoxian
(China)
The events and energies of mundane, down-in-the-dirt reality inspire much of the poetry …
Sanjin Sorel
(Croatia, 1970)
The writer, critic and essayist Sanjin Sorel (1970) was born in Rijeka, where he …
Marin Sorescu
(Romania, 1936–1996)

Xhevahir Spahiu
(Albania, 1945)
Xhevahir Spahiu was born in Malind, a village in the district of Skrapari, Albania. He …
Maria Luisa Spaziani
(Italy, 1924)
Maria Luisa Spaziani was born in Turin, but has for several decades been living and …
Erik Spinoy
(Belgium, 1960)
Erik Spinoy is a poet and professor of Dutch literature at the University of …
Srijato
(India, 1975)
Srijato began writing at an early age. His first book of poems was published when he …
K. Srilata
(India, 1968)
K. Srilata is a Chennai-based poet, fiction writer and translator. She writes in …
Pauline Stainer
(United Kingdom, 1941)
Pauline Stainer has always worked outside the metropolitan poetry community. Yet she …
A.E. Stallings
(USA, 1968)
A.E. (Alicia) Stallings studied classics in Athens, Georgia and has lived since 1999 in …
John Stammers
(United Kingdom, 1954)
John Stammers was born in London in 1954. His first collection Panoramic …
Nicolette Stasko
(USA, 1950)
“I’ve frequently wondered why I write, why anybody writes. I can’t …
Lucienne Stassaert
(Belgium, 1936)
As a young woman, Lucienne Stassaert (1936) was a promising concert pianist, but quite …
Jude Stéfan
(France, 1930)
The darker side of lyricism. Under the sign, narcissistic and charged with meaning, of …
Mustafa Stitou
(Netherlands, 1974)
If the essence of poetry is to break with expectations, Mustafa Stitou is conceivably …
Wilma Stockenström
(South Africa, 1933)
For the past four decades Wilma Johanna Stockenström has been enriching Afrikaans …
Greta Stoddart
(United Kingdom, 1966)
Greta Stoddart is a subtle, surprising poet whose work seems to hinge on those moments …
Milorad Stojević
(Croatia, 1948)
Milorad Stojević was born in Bribir, a small town not far from Rijeka (formerly …
Jon Stone
(United Kingdom, 1983)
To say that Jon Stone has just, at the time of writing, had his first full collection …
Ingrid Storholmen
(Norway, 1976)
There is a gravity to Storholmen’s poetry. From 2000 onwards, across four publications …
Mark Strand
(USA, 1934–2014)
Mark Strand was born on Prince Edward Island, Canada, and raised and educated in the …
Ivan Štrpka
(Czechoslovakia, 1944)

Arundhathi Subramaniam
(India, 1967)
This text was written in connection with the collaborative art project between the …
Nicolás Suescún
(Colombia, 1937)
Nicolás Suescún was born in Bogotá, Colombia. He is a poet, short …
Heiichi Sugiyama
(Japan, 1914)
Born in 1914, Heiichi Sugiyama has lived through many dramatic changes in the cultural …
Sun Wenbo
(China, 1956)
Sun Wenbo 孙文波 was a soldier, factory worker, editor, and then a prominent poet for over …
Basudev Sunani
(India, 1962)
Basudev Sunani (born 1962) is an Oriya poet of growing repute. The author of four …
C. P. Surendran
(India, 1959)
CP Surendran is a poet and novelist. He has written four volumes of poetry: Gemini …
Mario Suško
(Croatia, 1941)
Mario Suško received his M.A. and Ph.D. from SUNY at Stony Brook in the 1970s, and has …
Matthew Sweeney
(Ireland, 1952)
Born in Lifford, Co. Donegal in 1952, Sweeney lived principally in London from the mid …
Michael Symmons Roberts
(United Kingdom, 1963)
Michael Symmons Roberts is a poet, librettist and novelist. His poetry is known for its …
Arthur Sze
(USA, 1950)
Arthur Sze was born in New York in 1950. He studied at the University of California in …
George Szirtes
(Hungary, 1948)
George Szirtes was born in Hungary in 1948, but fled during the Hungarian Uprising of …
Morten Søndergaard
(Denmark, 1964)
As well as being a poet, Morten Søndergaard is a sound artist who in recent …
 

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