Tahar Ben Jelloun was born in the Moroccan city of Fes in 1944. He went to the French grammar school in Tangier, and studied philosophy in Rabat. Initially a teacher, he then went on to join the circle of intellectuals and artists around »Souffles«, and its founder Abdellatif Laâbi in
Svetlana Alexievich was born in 1948 in Ivano-Frankivsk (in the former USSR, modern-day Ukraine) to a Ukrainian mother and Belarusian father. She studied Journalism in Minsk, went on to work as a teacher and later became a reporter for various newspapers and magazines. While carrying out interviews as part of
Suse Weisse was born in 1962 in Wolfsburg, grew up in East Friesland and, following a one-year journey through South America, studied psychology and drama teaching in Berlin. After completing her studies, she worked from 1996 to 1999 as a member of the artistic team at the Kammertheater in Neubrandenburg.
Susanne Heinrich was born in Leipzig in 1985, she studied at the German Institute of Literature in Leipzig and has published numerous short stories in various anthologies, magazines and her own publications, followed in 2007 and 2009 by two novels. She has received various awards (Ingeborg Bachmann competition, residencies at
Steinunn Sigurðardóttir was born in Reykjavík. She studied psychology and philosophy in Dublin. With her poetry debut »Sífellur« (1969; tr. Continuances) she made a name for herself already at the age of 19. Sigurðardóttir was a reporter and news correspondent for the Icelandic Radio until the 1980s. She wrote TV
born in 1973, studied literature and media studies at the University of Iceland. Besides working as a poet and writer, she also wrote for a major daily newspaper for many years. Thrastardóttir’s first collection of poems »Blálogaland« (tr. The land of blue flames) appeared in 1999. Since then she has
Sara Al Jarwan was born in the Emirate of Ajman, in the United Arab Emirates in 1969. She began writing at an early age, but her literary career first took off as a member of the UAE armed forces, which she joined just before the outbreak of the 1991 Gulf
born in 1956 in Al-Habbaniyah, Iraq, left his home country in 1979. Nowadays Shimon lives in London. Shimon is a writer of short stories and poems as well as a publisher of anthologies. His debut novel »An Iraqi in Paris« (2005/2011) was highly praised by the critics. In the Arab
Roman Sikora was born in 1970 in Třinec, Czech Republic. In his plays, among them »Die Unbeweglichkeit«, »Die Stützen der Gesellschaft«, »Tod eines talentierten Schweins«, he counters social and political situations with stubborn humour. In 1997, he won the Alfréd-Radok-Award for »Antigone weggefegt«. Many of his plays have been translated,
Robert Williams was born in 1977 and grew up in Clitheroe/Lancashire. The son of two librarians made the local library in the town where he grew up in northern England his second home. He read his way through the inventory on the shelves with great enthusiasm and later became a
Robert Irwin born in the UK in 1946 and studied Modern History at Oxford. He taught Arabic and the History of the Middle East in London, Cambridge, and Oxford, and Medieval History in St. Andrews. The historian has published many novels and studies dealing with the politics, arts, and mysticism
Rick Reuther born in Henstedt-Rhen near Hamburg in 1993, lives in Berlin. A poet as well as a dramaturge. Published in literary journals, anthologies and online. Co-founder of »Zeitlosschrift« (in 2009), winner of the Young Authors’ Meeting (in 2010). © internationales literaturfestival berlin
