Nikola Madzirov was born in 1973 in Strumica, Macedonia to a family of Balkan Wars refugees. After studying in Skopje, he made a spectacular literary début in 1999 with his very first collection of poetry, »Zaklučeni vo gradot« (Eng. »Locked in the City«, 2009), which won the »Studentski zbor« prize.
Nicola Lagioia was born in 1973 in the Italian city of Bari. He made his literary debut in 2001 with the novel »Tre sistemi per sbarazzarsi di Tolstoj (senza risparmiare se stessi)« (tr: Three Systems to Dispose of Tolstoy [Without Taking it Easy]). After his second novel »Occidente per principianti«
Neel Mukherjee was born in Calcutta, India, in 1970. He studied English Literature at Oxford and Cambridge. Mukherjee’s first novel, »Past Continuous«, was published in India in 2008. The novel’s protagonist is a young man from Calcutta who travels to England to pursue his studies but leaves Oxford soon thereafter
Namwali Serpell was born in Lusaka, Zambia in 1980. At the age of nine, she moved with her family to Baltimore, USA. She attended both Harvard and Yale universities. Her first published short story »Muzungu« was taken up in the 2009 »Best American Short Stories« anthology and short-listed for the
born in 1980 in Frankfurt., studied visual communication at Kassel University of Arts. From 2003 to 2015 she lived in Edinburgh, where she studied illustration until 2007. She works as an illustrator and graphic designer, makes silk-screen prints, and gives illustration workshops. Her work has been exhibited in Edinburgh, Glasgow
born in 1994 in Karlsruhe, studied journalism and film theory in Mainz. Was a 2014 Treffen Junger Autoren laureate, had her work published in »Durchschrift 3« in the Rhineland-Palatinate. Humble beginnings as a blogger. Was a full-blown enthusiast by the time she participated in the 2015 Tanztreffen der Jugend. Has
born in 1939 in Chicago, Illinois, where he studied philology and history and wrote his doctoral thesis on the American economy during the 19th century. He currently teaches economics at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, is a Wall Street analyst and consultant, and is involved in the Occupy
Meriam Bousselmi was born in 1983 in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. She studied directing and dramaturgy in Tunis at the Centre Arabo-Africain de Formation et de Recherches Théâtrales from 2002 to 2007 and earned a master’s degree in judicial sciences in 2010. Three years earlier she not only won
Maylis de Kerangal was born in 1967 in Toulon, France, and studied history, philosophy and ethnology in Rouen and Paris. She subsequently worked for the children’s and young adult literature division of the French publishing house Éditions Gallimard. After a sojourn in the US, she returned to Paris to study
born in 1973 in Kisumu, Kenya, studied education in Kiel, where she wrote her doctoral thesis on »Rassifizierung und kindliches Machtempfinden« (Racialization and Infantile Perceptions of Power). Her research focuses on diversity in educational material, childhood, and racial criticism. She teaches at Magdeburg-Stendal Technical College.
born as Markus Witzel in 1976 in East Berlin, studied graphic design at the Berlin Weissensee School of Art, where he co-founded the comics group Monogatari. His illustrations are published by various magazines and newspapers. His comics, including »Wir können ja Freunde bleiben« (2003), »Kinderland« (2014) and »The Singles Collection«
Mathias Énard was born in Niort, France, in 1972. He worked towards a university degree in contemporary art before beginning, in 1992, to study Arabic and Persian in Tehran, Egypt, Venice and Damascus. He subsequently taught French in a village in Syria for two years. Until 2010 he taught Arabic
