Alec Schachner is an independent literary scholar and poetry translator based out of HCMC, Vietnam. His translations have appeared in Asymptote, various issues of Ajar online & print journals and Jerome Rothenberg's blog Poems and Poetics. The Purification Festival in April / lễ tẩy trần tháng tư was Schachner's first full book of contemporary Vietnamese poetry translations, with two more slated for publication next year. He is oft to be caught reading original and translated works around Hanoi and New York. He is also a multi-instrumental cross-genre musician and sound installation artist. [A-Festival]