Deniz Utlu

Deniz Utlu was born in Hannover in 1983 and studied economics at the Free University of Berlin and at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. His debut novel Die Ungehaltenen was published in 2014 and was adapted for the stage at the Maxim Gorki Theatre in Berlin in 2015. His second novel, Gegen Morgen, was published by Suhrkamp Verlag in 2019. In addition, he is the author of plays, poetry and essays, and also conducts research at the German Institute for Human Rights.

Theis Ørntoft

Theis Ørntoft (b. 1984) attended the Danish School of Writing from 2007 to 2009. He made his debut as a writer in 2009 with the poetry collection Yeah Suiten, and from then on he was recognized as one of the most distinctive voices of his generation.

For Yeah Suiten he received Denmark's largest debutant award, the Bodil and Jørgen Munch-Christensen Cultural Grant, and the poetry collection was also nominated for the Montana Literature Prize 2009.

Arbia Braham

Arbia Braham is a Tunisian Senior Teacher of English; born in Zouaouin a small village in the area of Bizerte north of Tunisia on the 18th of December 1979. She has been fond of writing poetry and novels since a young age and she received the national second prize of young talented writers at the age of 13. She excels at writing in Arabic, French and English as well.

Tina Vrščaj

Tina Vrščaj (1987) is an award-winning writer, literary critic and translator.

She graduated from the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana in 2010 with a degree in Comparative Literature and English. She works as an editor. She writes literary critics and essays for various magazines and newspapers. She is the author of two children’s picturebooks.

Bojan Krivokapić

Bojan Krivokapić was born in 1985 and holds a degree in Comparative Literature from the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad. He published two novels (Spring Is on the Road in 2017 and Villa Fazanka in 2023), a short story collection (Run, Lilith, Daemons Trip and Stumble in 2013), and two poetry collections (The Flight of the Cockroach in 2014 and The Nest of a Boy in 2019).

Gabriela Ruivo

Gabriela Ruivo has lived in London since 2004. She was winner of the Prémio LeYa in 2013 for her first novel, Uma Outra Voz, which was also awarded with Prémio PEN Clube Português Primeira Obra (jointly) in 2015 and published in Brazil in 2018 (LeYa – Casa da Palavra). Her other works include the poetry collection Aves Migratórias (On y va, 2019), Espécies Protegidas (short stories, On y va, 2021), and Lei da Gravidade (The Law of Gravity, her most recent novel, Porto Editora, 2023).

Sholeh Rezazadeh

Sholeh Rezazadeh (1989) came to the Netherlands from Iran in 2015. Three years after her arrival, she signed a contract for her debut novel De hemel is altijd paars (The Sky Is Always Purple, 2021) which was awarded the Debut Award of the Society of Dutch Literature 2022 and the Bronzen Uil Readers Award 2021. It was also on the longlist of the Libris Literature Prize 2022 and the Hebban Debut Prize 2022. Her second novel, Ik ken een berg die op me wacht (I know a mountain that is waiting for me) has been published recently.

Aleks Farrugia

Aleks Farrugia (1978) is an author, historian and journalist. His first work was a drama, Iħirsa fil-Mera. His debut novel Grasshopper (2016) was shortlisted for the National Book Prize. His short story collection, Għall-Glorja tal-Patrija (2019), secured him the prize in that category in 2020, while his second novel Camerata! (2021) was also shortlisted. Ir-Re Borg (The King of Malta), published in 2022, is his latest novel.

Daina Tabūna

Daina Tabūna was born in 1985 and is a Latvian writer. She graduated from the Latvian Academy of Culture, specialising in Theatre, Film and TV Drama. Since 2000 she has been publishing prose and articles in cultural media. Her short story collection Pirmā reize (The First Time), a contemporary coming-of-age book, was shortlisted for the Annual Latvian Literary Award 2014 as the best debut of the year. Tabūna’s stories have been published in the UK by The Emma Press, bearing the title The Secret Box.

María Elísabet Bragadóttir

María Elísabet Bragadóttir (b. 1993) holds a degree in philosophy and has served as a columnist for an Icelandic newspaper and the national radio station. Her debut book, a collection of short stories titled Room in Another World, garnered unanimous acclaim from both critics and readers. It was chosen as the "Discovery of the Year" by Iceland's leading newspaper, Morgunblaðið, and voted one of the three best works of fiction of the year by Icelandic booksellers.