Toni Andres, born in 2000 in Berlin, is a working student in the Young Program of the ilb. He studied Classics and Comparative Literature at the University of St Andrews and has been pursuing a Master’s degree in General and Comparative Literature at Freie Universität Berlin since October 2024. During his studies, he volunteered annually at the StAnza International Poetry Festival and gained experience in organizing cultural events in and around St Andrews. In 2024, he interned with the Young Program of the ilb.

Dorothea Bering, born in Munich, currently leads communications for the International Literature Festival Berlin. She gained early experience at the Battersea Arts Centre in London and the Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel in Munich, before studying literature, theater, and film studies in Munich and Berlin. Dorothea began her career in the international cultural sector with the communications department at the British Council, and later became the communications director at the Ringlokschuppen Ruhr cultural center.

Her professional journey continued through various roles in press and public relations, as well as cultural marketing, leading to a position at Visit Britain Berlin, where she managed international destination marketing campaigns. She worked as the press spokesperson at Theater Freiburg and, in 2024, took on the role of Head of Communications for Tanzplattform Deutschland 2024, overseeing press, public relations, and marketing.

Lavinia Frey, born in 1969 in Hamburg, studied history, theatre studies, philosophy, and dance in Zurich, Bern, and London.
Since 2023, she has been directing the international literature festival berlin.

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.

Tatjana Gridnev, born in Russia, has been Head of Administration at the international literature festival berlin since 2020 and is responsible for finance, cooperation and personnel, among other things. She studied cultural studies with a minor in business administration at the Humboldt University of Berlin and cultural management at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) and worked in publishing and (book) marketing agencies before joining the ilb in 2016.

Katharina Höttemann, born in 1999 in the Ruhr area, is a working student in the administration department of the international literature festival berlin (ilb). She completed a Bachelor’s degree in German Literature and Classical Archaeology at the Humboldt University of Berlin in 2021 and is currently continuing her studies in the Master’s program in German Literature. During her studies, she already gained extensive experience in the book trade, event management and interdisciplinary research. In 2023, she completed an internship in production and logistics at the ilb.

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.

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.

Senta König, born in Berlin in 2007, has been doing an FSJ Kultur at the ilb since September 2024.

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 Student Assistant in Administration, Logistics, and Production at ilb. She studied German Language and Literature, and History at the University of Bern (B.A.) and is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Applied Literary Studies and Contemporary Literature at Freie Universität Berlin. 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 already completed an internship in the Young Program of ilb.

Maud Ruget, born in 1990 in France, has been the project manager for “Wortzauber gegen Buchfrust” since the 24th ilb. She studied Business Administration at HEC Paris and obtained a master’s degree in literature at Université Paris Nanterre. From 2016 to 2017, she worked at the book and publishing office of Institut Français Germany, where she was responsible for the cultural year as part of the guest of honor presentation at the Frankfurt Book Fair. She then worked as a freelance production manager and author in Berlin. She also co-founded Netzwerk französischsprachiger Autor*innen Berlin e.V. (Network francophone writers Berlin).

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 deputy head of Young Program, where she is also responsible for school communication and production. 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 subsequently started her master’s degree. In 2022, she joined the ilb as deputy head of Young Program.

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.

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. 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.