ilb Jahre: 2016
Zeina Abirached
Zeina Abirached was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1981. She studied at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts (ALBA) in Beirut and the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Abirached published her first comics while studying at ALBA. From the very beginning, her childhood in civil-war ravaged Lebanon played
Yusuf Rieger
born in 1995, was researching the poetry slam scene for a local newspaper on Stralsund, Germany. His first slam made such a strong impression, that he switched sides and took to the stage. He has been studying German literature and cultural studies at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin since 2015.
Yu Jie
born in 1973, is a Chinese writer and human rights activist. In 2010 he was incarcerated and tortured for his friendship with the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo. In 2012 he managed to emigrate to the US, where he lives with his family today. Jie has written more than
Yitzhak Laor
Yitzhak Laor was born in 1948 in the Israeli village of Pardes Hanna near Haifa. He studied literature at Tel Aviv University, subsequently becoming a lecturer on theatre and dance there and at the school of film in Jerusalem. He was imprisoned in 1972 for refusing military duty in the
Yanis Varoufakis
born in 1961 in Athens, Greece, he obtained an MSc in mathematical economics and statistics and a PhD in economics in 1987, and has had many international teaching appointments. From January to July 2015, Varoufakis was Greece’s minister of finance, and in 2016 he co-founded the Democracy in Europe 2025
Wytske Versteeg
Wytske Versteeg was born in the Netherlands in 1983 and completed her studies in political science with honors in 2005. In 2008, after gaining first-hand experience with homelessness while working as a volunteer in an emergency shelter, she wrote the essay »Dit is geen Dakloze« (tr: »This is not a
Wolfgang Hetzer
born in 1951, after studying law and political sciences, he joined the Federal Ministry of Finance, concentrating on issues of internal and external security, and as the head of the German Chancellery supervised the Federal Intelligence Service. From 2002 to 2011, Hetzer was the head of the European Anti-Fraud Office.
Wolfgang Kaleck
born in 1960,is a lawyer for international criminal law and human rights. He is the legal counsel to Edward Snowden as well as founder and secretary general of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), an independent human rights organization. He has also published several books, has been
Wolf Biermann
Wolf Biermann was born in Hamburg in 1936. His parents were in the communist resistance, and his father was killed in Auschwitz after years of imprisonment for his political activities. In 1953 Biermann left West Germany for the German Democratic Republic (GDR), and from 1957 to 1959 he worked as
Will Alexander
works in multiple genres. In addition to being a poet, he is also a novelist, essayist, aphorist, playwright, philosopher, visual artist, and pianist. His praxis of language is not unlike the Mayan numerical world, where each letter of the alphabet spontaneously engages in non-limit. Thus, all fields of experience are
Wells Tower
Wells Tower was born in 1973 in Vancouver, Canada, and grew up in North Carolina. He studied anthropology and sociology at Wesleyan University, and creative writing at Columbia University. He then traveled extensively around the US, taking odd jobs and living paycheck to paycheck – a time in his life
