Ales Debeljak
Poet
Prolific Slovenian poet, essayist, newspaper columnist, and cultural critic. His well-known works include Twilight of the Idols, Persistence of Modernity, and The Hidden Handshake.
He studied at The University of Ljubljana, Syracuse University, and the University of California-Berkeley. In the early stages of his poetic career, Debeljak won the attention of poet Veno Taufer.
His poetry is notable for its melancholic tone and its reverence for Enlightenment ideals and morality.
He married Erica Johnson, an American-Slovenian writer and translator. While living in Ljubljana, the couple became parents to three children.
His literary contemporary, German author Herta Muller, won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature.