Zlatko Krasni was born in Sarajevo in 1951. After receiving his schooling in Montreux, Switzerland, Hamm, West Germany and in the Yugoslav city of Herceg Novi, he went on to study German language and literature in Addis Ababa, Belgrade and Berlin. In 1977 he completed his doctorate on the subject
Guest at the ilb 2004, 2008 Xi Chuan (real name Liu Jun) was born in Xuzhou, in the Jiangsu province of the People’s Republic of China, in 1963. He studied English at the Beijing University between 1981 and 1985, and later worked as an editor for the magazine »Huangqiu« (Globe).
Xosé A. Neira Cruz, born in the Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela in 1968, ranks among the most prominent Galician authors of children’s and youth literature. He studied Italian philology and graduated in Communication Studies at the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, where he has been teaching and researching
Wojciech Cichon lives in Warsaw and performs in Polish, German and English. Between 2003 and 2007 he won several slams in Poland and has also performed regularly in Germany. He organises slam events, such as the new annual »SPOKE’n’WORD FESTIVAL« at the Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw, which takes
The jury of the Hans Christian Andersen Award, which he received in 2006 for his work as an illustrator, called him a »magician«. Wolf Erlbruch, born in Wuppertal in 1948, is one of the great contemporary picture book illustrators. He studied graphic design at the Folkwang University in Essen, worked
Wilfried N’Sondé was born in Brazzaville, capital of the present-day Republic of Congo, in 1968. In 1973, after his father received a grant from a Parisian art school, the whole family moved to the outskirts of Paris. Under the impact of the adverse living conditions in the banlieues and working
The poet Vasyl Makhno was born in Chortkiv, in the Ukrainian province Ternopil, in 1964. After completing his studies at the Pedagogical Institute in Ternopil, he graduated in literature and worked as a lecturer at the college. In 1999 his doctoral thesis about Bohdan-Ihor Antonych, a prominent representative of Ukrainian
Viktor Canosinaj was born in Vlorë, a south Albanian port on the Adriatic coast, in 1960. After completing his studies in literature, he worked as a teacher, journalist and news editor. He also worked as a childcare worker in an SOS children’s village. He was publishing poems and short prose
Veronika Rotfuß was born in Pforzheim in 1980. She now lives and works as an actress and author in Munich. After training as a goldsmith she enrolled in a drama college in Hamburg, where she currently lives, and subsequently worked in a theatre. She won the »Hinz and Kuntz Writing
Verena Roßbacher, born in Bludenz/Voralberg in 1979, grew up in Austria and Switzerland. She studied philosophy, German language and literature and theology in Zurich as well as at the German Literature Institute in Leipzig. Her writings have been published in various anthologies and magazines, and her plays and scenic readings
Uwe Timm was born in Hamburg in 1940. He completed a furrier apprenticeship and, after the death of his father, took over his fur business and ran it for three years. In 1963 he went back to school and completed his sixth form studies before going on to study German
Ulrich Peltzer was born in Krefeld in 1956. At the age of eighteen he moved to Berlin, where he studied philosophy and psychology. He published his first novel, »Die Sünden der Faulheit« (t: The sins of sloth) in 1987. His growing body of work, consisting of five novels to date,
