Faces to Watch

Courtney Angela Brkic

Writer, fiction/nonfiction

As a 23-year-old American, Brkic, the daughter of a Croatian playwright, worked as a forensic archeologist in Bosnia, excavating mass graves. In her debut collection of short stories last year, “Stillness” (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), Brkic drew on her experience with the U.N.-contracted forensic team.

Brkic’s new book, “The Stone Fields,” also explores the effects of war in the Balkans -- this time as a work of nonfiction. In “The Stone Fields,” which will be published by Farrar in August, Brkic writes about her forensic work and stint at the U.N.’s International War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. She also details the story of her father’s family in the same area.

Brkic’s father already has given her the ultimate praise. “He said I got it right,” said Brkic, 31, a visiting assistant professor of English at Kenyon College in Ohio.

This year, Brkic received a $35,000 Whiting Writers’ Award, which recognizes emerging writers of exceptional talent.

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Poetri

Poet-playwright

Poetri (yes, he goes by one name and it’s pronounced “poetry”) is a bear of a man, boisterous and boyish, whose poetry is rooted in everyday musings -- he loves Krispy Kremes, wishes he could move like Michael Jackson, wonders what it would be like to date himself.

These days, he’s on tour with “Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam,” a showcase of poetry slam stars. Poetri, a 29-year-old Los Angeles resident, also was part of the “Def Poetry cast” that won a Tony Award this year for its Broadway engagement. When he’s in town, he hosts an open forum at the premier showcase, Da’ Poetry Lounge in Hollywood.

With one play to his credit -- “Dear Child,” which he co-wrote -- Poetri is writing poetry and songs for a hip-hop musical called “Ball.” The musical is aimed at Broadway in early summer.

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Hannah Tinti

Short-story writer

The bidding war for Tinti’s first novel and short-story collection took off at last year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, the largest publishing industry event in the world. She eventually signed a two-book deal with Dial Press, a division of Random House; foreign rights have been sold to 12 countries.

“It all seemed like some kind of dream sequence,” said Tinti, 31, editor of One Story, a New York-based literary magazine.

Tinti, a former literary agency assistant, has a master’s degree from New York University’s Graduate Creative Writing Program. In “Animal Crackers,” which will be published in March, Tinti’s short stories explore the complex and sometimes strange or troubling intersections between the human and animal worlds.

-- Renee Tawa