Valérie Dayre was born in France in 1958. In 1989 she published her first book, entitled »Miranda s’en va« (t: Miranda goes away). Since then she has written over fifteen highly-acclaimed children’s novels and picture books, which have been translated into German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch. In her challenging stories,
Valérie Zenatti was born in Nice in 1970 and, at the age of thirteen, moved with her family to Israel, where they settled in Beersheba in the Negev desert. When she was eighteen she did the military service which is required of young men and women alike and shortly afterwards
Tzvetan Todorov was born in Sofia in 1939. At the age of twenty-four, he left Bulgaria and went to Paris, where he obtained his doctorate in 1970. He published his authoritative work on fantasy literature in the same year. The »Introduction à la littérature fantastique« (1972; Eng. »The Fantastic: A
Timothée de Fombelle, born in Paris in 1973, discovered early in life that he had a passion both for writing and theatre. At the age of seventeen he founded the theatre group »La Troupe des Bords de Scène«, for which he wrote and directed. After completing his studies in literature
Tara June Winch was born in Wollongong, Australia, in 1983. Her father is a member of the Wiradjuri nation in New South Wales. In 2004 she was awarded the David Unaipon Award for indigenous writers for a then unpublished version of her first novel »Swallow the Air« (2006). The novel
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
Tanguy Viel was born in Brest in 1973. He worked at a theatre in Tours, produced radio programmes for France Culture and writes reviews for various journals, including »Positif« and »Inventaire/Invention«. Following »Le Black Note« (1998) Viel has published three further novels, the most recent of which appeared in German
born in 1987, studied literature at the Sorbonne, and was the spokeswoman for a feminist initiative. Travels to Myanmar, Bangladesh and Afghanistan inspired Chalvon to write and work as a freelance journalist in places such as Kabul and Abidjan, where she lived until recently. In April 2015 she joined the
Shumona Sinha, born in Calcutta in 1973, grew up in a family of academics and literary enthusiasts. She began writing while still in her teens and was named Best Young Poet in Bengal in 1990. In 2001, she moved to Paris to study literature at the Sorbonne, and also worked
born in 1985 in Paris, studied at the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt and Berlin Weissensee School of Art. He has written and illustrated comics, among them »Ziegenmilch & Zeichenstift« (2011) and »A bisserl weiter geht’s immer« (2015). »Making Friends in Bangalore« (2014) was elected one of the Most Beautiful
Salah Stétié was born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1929. Already at an early age, he was led to the playful use of language by his father who himself wrote poems. The origins to his poetic creations can be found in the city of his birth, the crossroads between Arabic and
Salim Bachi was born in Algiers in 1971 and grew up in Annaba in Eastern Algeria. He studied French Language and Literature in both cities and at the Sorbonne. He has been living in Paris since 1997. Bachi made his début with short stories, published in various newspapers such as
