Chrissi is a working student in the Communications Department. Chrissi is studying for a Master’s degree in Applied Literary Science at the Freie Universität Berlin and has been supporting the ILB since April 2026.
Chrissi is a working student in the Communications Department. Chrissi is studying for a Master’s degree in Applied Literary Science at the Freie Universität Berlin and has been supporting the ILB since April 2026.
Benjamin Can, born in Gießen, is an Assistant in the Programming Department. He finished his bachelor’s degree in cultural studies at Maastricht University. He then gained first work experience in the book trade and at an advertising and PR agency in Berlin. There, he worked with Rowohlt Verlag, the Thalia Theater in Hamburg, and the Pinakotheken in Munich, among others. While working, he completed a dual master’s program in Digital Journalism at the Hamburg Media School.
Lavinia Frey has been Festival Director since 2023. Born in Hamburg, she studied history, theatre studies, philosophy, and dance in Zurich, Bern, and London.
After her studies, she worked as a director, choreographer and dramaturg at the Schauspielhaus Zurich, Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin, Staatstheater Schwerin, and Stadttheater Hildesheim, among others. In 2007, she became a co-founder and managing director of the cultural and concept agency Graf & Frey. As such she designed and implemented cultural events, festivals and symposia at the interface of politics, business, and science. In 2016, Lavinia Frey was appointed Board Member for Culture at the Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss and as Managing Director of Humboldt Forum Kultur GmbH. From 2018-2023, she led the Programs and Projects Department at the Stiftung Humboldt Forum as Managing Director, and was thus responsible for the international temporary exhibition program, artistic events, “History of the site”, and individual projects that she curated herself. From 2017-2023, she was also a co-project leader in the national collaborative project “museum4punkt0. Digital Strategies for the Museum of the Future”. Since 2019, she has been a member of the Akademie Deutscher Sachbuchpreis Lavinia Frey is also engaged in organizational development and is certified with the Neuwaldegg Curriculum for Systemic Organizational Development.
Simon Ivčević, born in 2000 in Boston, USA, has been supporting the ilb team as a student assistant in the Program Department since January 2025. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Literature & Rhetoric in the Humanities program at Bard College Berlin. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in General and Comparative Literature at the Peter Szondi Institute of Freie Universität Berlin. During his studies, he gained experience in interdisciplinary research, academic communication, and print production.
Oda Kandler, born in 1999, is pursuing a master’s degree in Applied Literary Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. During her studies, Oda has already gained experience in event management and working with children’s and young adult literature. At the 25th ILB, Oda served as a volunteer for the Youth Program and has been supporting the Youth Program team as an intern since July 2026.
Lena Klinkenberg, born in Lower Rhine area, is Assistant in the Program Department. She studied German Language and Literature, Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, and Art History at the University of Bonn. During her studies, she gained experience in PR and events in the book industry. After finishing her master’s degree in Modern German Literature, she completed a traineeship at the publishing house Kiepenheuer&Witsch. She then worked there in the events department and subsequently in a PR agency.
Dennis Kölling, born in Berlin, leads communications for the International Literature Festival Berlin. He studied North American Studies and Global History at Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Vanderbilt University. In 2025, he completed his doctorate at the European University Institute in Florence with a thesis on the transatlantic intellectual history of libertarianism. During his studies, he gained extensive experience in event and project management, marketing, and political education at the intersection of academia, politics, and culture. In addition, he volunteered as editor of a student journal, host of an academic podcast, and producer of numerous music projects in Berlin and Florence.
Mia Kugelmann, born in Stuttgart, studied German Studies, comparative literature and cultural studies, and media communication at the University of Bonn, as well as design at Burg Giebichenstein, the University of Art and Design in Halle. Prior to that, she completed an apprenticeship at Ullstein Buchverlage in Berlin. While pursuing her studies, she gained experience in press and public relations, event organization, and the production and management of publications at various cultural institutions, including the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, Burg Giebichenstein in Halle, and the Gropius Bau in Berlin. She also worked as a bookseller in Hamburg and Berlin.
Following a scholarship stay in Japan and the completion of her master’s degree in Conceptual Textile Design, Mia Kugelmann has been working as a lecturer in the Department of Textile and Material Design at the Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin since 2024. Since November 2024, she has been completing a traineeship in the Press/Communications Office at the Berlin University of the Arts. In this capacity, she is also supporting the team of the Young Program at the 26th International Literature Festival Berlin.
Nora Mengel, born in Berlin, is head of the ilbDIGITAL program and program manager. She holds a doctorate in Eastern European History from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität [LMU] Munich, studied Eastern European Studies at the LMU Munich and Cultural Studies at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt [O.], the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the Lomonossov Moscow State University. She gained her first professional experience in intercultural communication and political development cooperation at the Goethe Institute in Minsk [Belarus] and at the Federal Foreign Office in Moscow as well as at the German-Russian Forum in Berlin. After numerous research stays in Vienna and Saint Petersburg, she completed her dissertation »Biograph(i)en of the Empire« – a comparison of imperial consciousness in the Habsburg and Russian Empires at the end of the 19th century – at the Institute for European History in Mainz, for which she was awarded the Research Prize of the Institute for Personal History in 2020.
Nora Rohde, born in 1998 in Solothurn (CH), is Administration and Young Program Assistant at the ILB. She studied German Language and Literature, and History at the University of Bern (B.A.) and completed her Master’s degree in Applied Literary Studies and Contemporary Literature at Freie Universität Berlin in 2026. During her studies, she gained experience in local journalism at Stadtradio RaBe in Bern and at a local newspaper, where she was able to publish her first smaller contributions and articles. In 2023, she completed an internship in the Young Program of ILB and from 2024 to 2026 she was Student Assistant in Administration, Logistics, and Production.
Lena Scheitz, born in 1991 in Münster, studied German Studies, Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, and German Literature in Bonn, Berlin, Paris, and Lomé. Since 2019, she has worked as a project manager and production lead with a focus on cultural education for various literary and cultural initiatives, including at Haus für Poesie. She has also led her own literary education projects in schools, at the Heinrich Böll Library, and at other cultural institutions, serving as a workshop facilitator. As a writer, she contributed to the film “PERSPEKTIV:WECHSEL”, which addresses diversity in children’s and youth theater. From 2022 to 2024, she worked in the Young Theater department for Theater o.N., where she also organized the FRATZ International Theater Festival. Additionally, she publishes reviews for the platform “Der rote Elefant” by LesArt. In 2020, she served as interim head of the ilb’s Young Program.
Henrike Schmidt, born in Lüneburg in 1994, is head of production and communication in the ilb’s Young Program. She studied Cultural Studies with a focus on literature as well as Business Psychology at Leuphana University Lüneburg and Applied Literary Studies – Contemporary Literature at Freie Universität Berlin. In Lüneburg, she worked as a student assistant at the Institute of English Studies as well as at the Institute for Historical Studies and Literary Cultures. She worked in publishing after moving to Berlin and joined the ilb-Team in 2021.
Simone Schröder, born in Frankfurt am Main in 1986, is the director of the ilb’s evening programme. She studied General and Comparative Literature, Hispanic Studies and Political Science in Mainz. She then lived in London for several years and received her PhD in 2017 from the University of Bath with a thesis on nature essayism. In 2019, her book »The Nature Essay: Ecocritical Explorations« was published by Brill/ Rodopi. In addition to her work for the festival, she is a translator, editor of various anthologies and essayist. She has been awarded the Edit Essay Prize and the Essay Prize of Merkur magazine for her texts, among others, and was a scholarship holder of the LCB and the Jürgen Ponto Foundation.
Katharina Taube, born in 1999 in the Ruhr area, works as Administrative Assistant with a focus on hospitality and logistics for the International Literature Festival Berlin (ILB). She completed her Bachelor’s degree in German Literature and Classical Archaeology at Humboldt University Berlin, where she subsequently also completed her Master’s degree. She has extensive experience in bookselling, event management, and interdisciplinary research. In 2023, she completed an internship in production and logistics at ILB.
Hordii Tsyba, born in 2003 in Kyiv, Ukraine, is an intern in the logistics and hospitality department at 26th ILB. He has been living in Berlin since 2023, where he is studying journalism and communication studies as well as social and cultural anthropology at Freie Universität Berlin. Following his internship, he will write his bachelor’s thesis on public relations in the book industry.
Helene Zinnecker, born in 2001 in Berlin, is a student assistant at the Young Program. She studied French and German Language and Literature at the University of Bonn and the Sorbonne Université Paris and is now pursuing a Master’s degree in General and Comparative Literature at Freie Universität Berlin. Thanks to multiple internships during her studies, she was able to gain experiences in publishing, press relations and in the management and production of cultural events, among others at the Book and publishing office of the Institut français Germany. In 2024, she first began working as an intern and later as an assistant in the Young Program.