John Slater is 34, Canadian, and living as a monk in upstate New York where he enjoys caring for the elderly monks and puttering about in a quasi-Japanese garden. His poems have appeared in various journals in the U.S. and Canada, most recently Brink Magazine, Juked, and Queen’s Quarterly. His poem “Lost and Found” won the 2007 Foley Poetry Contest run by America magazine. Two co-translations of poems by Hafiz of Shiraz appear in the Spring 2008 CrossCurrents. His first collection is forthcoming from The Porcupine’s Quill Press. A book-length translation of ghazals by Hafiz is also forthcoming.