Shahla Naghiyeva, PhD, is an Associate Professor of the Foreign Literature Department at the Azerbaijan University of Languages. She is a translator and researcher, teaching courses in American literature and translation. She is the founder and director of a non profit organization (NGO) supporting cultural connections between artists and writers in Azerbaijan and other nations, Sonmaz Mashal (Cultural Relations Public Union). She has published scholarly articles on the problems of translation. Together with colleague Alison Mandaville, through the support of UNESCO and the Open Society Institute, she has co-translated and published a volume of poetry by women from the region of Azerbaijan spanning 800 years as well as several volumes of contemporary poetry and art by Azerbaijani women. She has received national and international numerous grants for her work to support arts and literature and global connections through creativity. She currently resides in Baku, Azerbaijan.