Paul Harding was born near Boston in 1967. He grew up in the small town of Wenham, Massachusetts, and became an apprentice to his grandfather, a watchmaker. After high school he attended the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, where he was one of the founders of the independent rock band
Patrick Bahners born in Paderborn in 1967, he studied history and philosophy in Bonn and Oxford. The journalist and author became an editor for the feuilleton of the German daily »FAZ« in 1989, and its head in 2001. He was a lecturer at the universities of Bonn and Frankfurt/Main, and
Patrick Chamoiseau was born in Fort-de France on the Antillean island of Martinique in 1953. After his studies in law in Paris and his master’s degree in social economics he worked as an educator in rehabilitation projects for children in detention, first in France, later in Martinique. Inspired by his
Pankaj Mishra was born in the northern Indian town of Jhansi in 1969. After studying commerce at the University of Allahabad, he graduated with a Master of Arts degree in English Literature from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. He began to write reviews for newspapers such as »The Indian
Paolo Piccirillo born in 1987 at Santa Maria Capua Vetere in the province of Caserta. After secondary school he moved to Florence and later to Rome to study screenwriting. He was picked for Rai TV’s specialization course for scriptwriters (»XIII corso di perfezionamento per sceneggiatori Script/Rai«). At the same time,
Omair Ahmad was born in Aligarh in 1974. Although literature was an important part of his family life, like many children from developing countries, his training was primarily in sciences. His father was a petroleum engineer and this led the family across India and then later to Saudi Arabia, where
Omar Akbar Omar Akbar has been one of the most influential hosts of the “Reflections” programme of the international literature festival berlin since 2007. He has focused on the literary exploration of big cities and metropolises, and their specific urban character. In his series Urban Worlds – World Cities he
Olga Galicka born in Riga in 1990, has lived in Frankfurt since 1999, studied Economics and Media Studies at Goethe University. Multiple winner of the Young Authors’ Meeting in Berlin and Fellow of the Lower Saxony Foundation in 2008, wrote a blog for the »Students play Sturm und Drang« theatre
Nam Le was born in Vietnam in 1978 and grew up in Australia. Although he graduated in Law at Melbourne University, he only worked as a lawyer for a short time and soon found himself called to writing. In an interview he ascribed his change of heart to his own
Moritz Rinke, born in 1967 in Worpswede, studied applied theater studies in Giessen. He worked for the »Tagesspiegel« as a columnist and reporter from 1994 to 1996. He was twice awarded the Axel Springer Prize and a collection of his texts was published in 2001 as »Der Blauwal im Kirschgarten«
Morris Gleitzman was born in the Lincolnshire town of Sleaford in 1953 and grew up in suburban London. According to his own account, he spent his childhood devouring every book he could lay his hands on. In 1969 his family emigrated to Australia. While he took on various temporary jobs,
