Dr. Tina Bilban (1983) is a literary critic, author, editor and a research associate at the Institute Nova revija. She is president of the Slovenian section of IBBY – International Board on Books for Young People and a member of the executive committee of the Slovene Literary Critics' Association. She works at the crossroads between contemporary philosophy, science and literature. Tina is author of five books, the sixth will be published this year.
Nenad Šaponja (1964) is born and lives in Novi Sad, Serbia. He is a poet, essayist, and literary critic whose verses are recognizable in contemporary Serbian poetry due to their stylistic perfection, hermetic quality and metaphysical insight. His poetry has been translated into English, French, Italian, Romanian, Macedonian, Slovak, Albanian, Azerbaijan, Chinese etc. The most popular of his books are Does the Touch of Your Soul Exist?; Sweet Death; and I Seem, Therefore I Am Not.
Mkrtich Matevosyan is a painter and graphic designer. He was born in 1961 in Gyumri city, Armenia. In 1995, he founded the Actual Art cultural union NGO which is mainly engaged in publishing activity. Actual Art publishes books on contemporary literature, art, philosophy, as well as children's books. Mkrtich Matevosyan is also the co-founder-editor of Actual Art magazine. He has 3 children.
David Machado was born in Lisbon in 1978. He has a degree in economics from ISEG, Lisbon's School of Economics and Management, but soon devoted himself to writing fiction and children's literature. In 2005, he was awarded the Branquinho da Fonseca Prize for his children's book A Noite dos Animais Inventados and, in 2010, he was awarded the SPA/RTP Author Prize, in the category for Best Children and Youth book, for O Tubarão na Banheira.
Since starting her career in the book business in 2012, Kristīne Pīkenena has been actively promoting Latvian and international literature. Currently she works as manager of the Jānis Roze Bookstore in Riga, at Kr.Barona street. She has taken part in three ICYB (International Congress of Young Booksellers), that used to gather young at heart booksellers from all around the globe. For more than six years she has been bringing together likeminded readers in the book club “Total Cover” (Totāls vāks), with monthly literary meetings on diverse subjects.
Petrit Ymeri is the executive director of the Dituria publishing house, founded in May 1991. For several years, he was a literature teacher in high school and later a lecturer in foreign literature at the University of Tirana. Until 1991, he was a cultural journalist for the Albanian Radiotelevision and later the head of the editorial sector of the 8 November publishing house. From 2003 to 2014, Petrit Ymeri was a member of the Board of Directors of the Albanian Radiotelevision.
Jasmin B. Frelih (1986) is an author and translator from Slovenia. His first novel In/Half won the EUPL in 2016 and was since translated into ten languages. His short story collection Tiny Ideologies was published in 2015 and his essay collection Pale Freedom (2018) won the Marjan Rožanc award for best book of essays. His next novel is forthcoming this year from Beletrina publishing house. He lives in Škofja Loka with his partner and their dog.
Svetlozar Zhelev is a well known contemporary expert in the Bulgarian literary field. Former publisher, TV and radio host, he was a board member of the Bulgarian Book Association from 2006 to 2010, and president of the jury for the "Translations" program of the National Culture Fund from 2018 to 2020. He is a member of the programing committee of the "TRADUKI" network, board member of ENLIT, co-founder and board member of the "Elizabeth Kostova Foundation on Creative Writing", and a lecturer in Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" since 2013.
In 2001, Shakeh established Artbridge, the first bookstore café and restaurant in Yerevan, Armenia. During the past 20 years, she managed to change the culture of bookselling in the country, by promoting Armenian books, exporting them to libraries and customers around the world, and participating in international book fairs with the same vision of promoting Armenian issues and literature. She has initiated the project “Exhibition and Sales” for rural area in Armenia with collaboration with publishers to promote new publications.
Isabel Lucas is a journalist and literary critic. She started to do journalism on television and has since passed through the editorial staff of some of the main Portuguese newspapers and magazines. Freelance since 2012, she writes regularly for Público newspaper, collaborates with Ler and has collaborated with several national and international publications. Among many of his work in various journalistic areas, he has featured in articles and interviews with some of the most celebrated American authors.
