Maura Dooley’s most recent collection of poems is Five Fifty-Five (Bloodaxe). Her translation into English (with Elhum Shakerifar) of the poetry of the Iranian poet Azita Ghahreman, Negative of a Group Photograph, was shortlisted for the Warwick Women in Translation Prize and a PEN Award. She was a Centre Director of the Arvon Foundation, founding Director of the Literature and Talks programme at the South Bank Centre and is Professor Emerita at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she directed the MA in Creative and Life Writing since its inception. She has served as judge for many literary awards, including the T S Eliot, Laurel, Foyle and Forward Prizes, the David Cohen Award and the National Poetry Competition. She re-established Poetry International in the UK, worked for Jim Henson Film and, in theatre, for Performing Arts Labs. Her poetry has received an Eric Gregory Award, a Cholmondeley Award and she is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.