Ani is an Albanian-born writer, literary translator and author of Bread on Running Waters (Fenway Press, 2013) a finalist for the 2011 Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize and the 2011 May Sarton New Hampshire Book Prize. Her translation from the Albanian of Luljeta Lleshanaku’s Negative Space (New Directions, 2018) was a finalist for a PEN Award, a Best Translated Book Award and shortlisted for the International Griffin Poetry Prize. Gjika is a recipient of awards and fellowships from the NEA, English PEN, the Robert Pinsky Global Fellowship and, most recently, Restless Books’ 2021 Prize for New Immigrant Writing for her forthcoming memoir. She teaches social studies, literature, and writing to English Language Learners at Framingham High School.