Ray Taras was born and educated in Montreal and went on to study and teach at universities in the UK, Denmark, Italy, Sweden, and the US. He publishes on issues of identity and of world literature’s importance to making sense of international politics. He has been professor of political science and past director of the world literature program at Tulane University in New Orleans. In 2013–14 he is Fulbright Distinguished Chair in European Studies at the University of Warsaw. His interviews with Carsten Jensen and Rawi Hage appear, respectively, in the May 2011 and July 2013 issues of WLT.