Translators Ed Bok Lee, Robert Hedin, & Kaija Straumanis in conversation

Ed Bok Lee is the author of three books of poetry, including Whorled, and Mitochondrial Night. Lee’s poetry has been translated into French, Italian, Spanish, Korean, and Chinese. Honors include an American Book Award, an Asian American Literary Award (Members’ Choice Award), a Minnesota Book Award, and a PEN/Open Book Award. As a translator, Lee is the recipient of the 49th Modern Korean Literature Translation Grand Prize in Poetry. Lee’s literary translations have ranged from the prose of science fiction writer, Anatoli Kim (Kazakstan/Russia) to Smiling in an Old Photograph: Poems by Kim Ki-taek and Hail, Che! by Pak Jeong-dae (South Korea). He teaches at Metro State University, has a background in local journalism and political theater, and began writing poetry while in kindergarten in Seoul, South Korea.

Robert Hedin is the author, translator, and editor of more than two dozen books of poetry. The recipient of many honors and awards for his work, he has taught at the University of Alaska, the University of Minnesota, St. Olaf College, and Wake Forest University. He is co-founder and former director of the Anderson Center at Tower View, a residential artist retreat in Red Wing, Minnesota.

Kaija Straumanis is an award-winning translator from the Latvian, and is the Editorial Director of Coffee House Press. Her translations include works by such authors as Inga Ābele, Jānis Joņevs, and Gundega Repše, among others. She received a 2020 NEA Literature Translation Fellowship for her work on Forest Daughters edited by Sanita Reinsone. Her most recent translation, The River by Laura Vinogradova, was longlisted for the 2026 PEN Translation Prize.

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