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U.S. Ambassador Mark Minton kindly forwarded me the Embassy's English summary of the article about me that was published in Mongolia's Today's News Newspaper recently (scan of that to come, dear proud family members, when I am not in Indonesia anymore):

"U.S. writer, translator, Mongolian Writer’s Union’s international representative, Brown University student Min Holden gives interview. She is 21 years old and native of California. She arrived last September and had very little knowledge about Mongolia. She is here to learn Mongolian and try to translate Mongolian literature to English in order to introduce it to the rest of the world. Her translations from Spanish published in “Arizona’’ magazine and few other publications. She is learning Mongolian language and found very interesting when ordinary Mongolians knew art products and producers. She liked Mongolian culture, people and friends she obtained in Arts Council and Mongolian Poets Association. She is helping Mongolian PEN club to become a member of the International PEN organization. She hopes that very soon the official letter will arrive. (Odriin Sonin, 12/18/2007, p.15)"

Now, to be clear: I am 23 years old; the translations (of contemporary Bolivian poet Vicky Allyon's work) will be published in U of Arizona's Hayden's Ferry Review; I find Mongolian artists and their work interesting, not the fact that they "know art products"; the old suspicious dudes at the "PEN club" are probably going to be disgruntled when I break it to them that PEN, a name they've used since the late 1980s, is not a name International PEN technically allows them to have until they have been approved as a PEN-Center-that-is-affiliated-with-International-PEN--which, as it happens; will probably not happen "very soon" but after a year-or-two long application process.