2010

Răzvan Rădulescu (b.1969) was born in Bucharest. As a student, he became a member of Letters, one of the most important training centers for young writers at the time, led by another famous author, Mircea Cărtărescu. Rădulescu’s text was published in the anthology Tablou familie in 1995. His critical reception included winning the Romanian Writers' Union prize. His second novel, Teodosi cel Mic, was received with enthusiasm by many commentators. He has also written screenplays and collaborated with various magazines.

Goce Smilevski (b.1975) was born in Skopje, Macedonia. He was educated at the Sts Kiril and Metodij University in Skopje, at Charles University in Prague and at the Central European University in Budapest. He is the author of the novels The Planet of Inexperience, Conversation with Spinoza and Sigmund Freud’s Sister. He won Macedonian Novel of the Year Award in 2003 for Conversation with Spinoza. In 2006, he was also awarded the Central European Initiative Fellowship for young European authors.

Iris Hanika (b.1962) was born in Würzburg and grew up in Bad Königshofen. In Berlin, where she’s been living since 1979, she studied Universal and Comparative Literature. She wrote her first book in the summer of 1989. Since 1998, she has been reviewing political books for the national newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. She was one of the first freelancers to work on the Berlin Pages, a daily supplement for the German capital in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. From 2000 to 2008, Hanika wrote a chronicle for the magazine Merkur.

Tiit Aleksejev (b.1968) graduated from the University of Tartu with a master’s degree in Medieval History. He has worked as a diplomat in Paris and Brussels, and currently lives in Tallinn. His first short story, Tartu rahu, won the annual award from the literary magazine Looming in 1999. His first novel, Valge kuningriik, a thriller whose action unfolds in Paris and retrospectively in Afghanistan in the 1980s, was awarded the Betti Alver Prize in 2006 for best debut novel.

Nataša Kramberger (b.1983) was born in Maribor, the second largest city in Slovenia. She won the Slovenian young authors prize in 2006 and her book Nebesa v robidah was nominated for the Kresnik Prize as Slovenia’s best novel of the year in 2008. In the same year, Kramberger won the international short story competition, A Sea of Words, which is sponsored by the Anna Lindh Foundation, and in 2009 she won the Young Euro Connect prize. Nataša Kramberger works as a freelance writer and journalist.

Riku Korhonen (b.1972) made his literary debut in 2003 and has quickly established himself as one of the central Finnish modern writers. He writes about serious and important topics, but in an entertaining style that brings his narrative skills to the fore. Before he became a full-time writer and columnist, he worked as a Finnish teacher in high-school and as a lecturer of creative writing at the University of Turku. His debut novel, Kahden ja yhden yön tarinoita, won the prestigious Literary Award of Helsingin Sanomat in 2003.

Raquel Martínez-Gómez was born in La Mancha. Her most recent literary production includes her novel about the Mexican archaeologist Alberto Ruz Llhuillier, The Mask of the Mayan King (La máscara del rey maya, Planeta México, 2023), also available in e-book and audiobook.
 

Peter Terrin (b.1968) represents a unique voice in contemporary Dutch-language literature, touching on universal and highly topical themes alike. Terrin, who has been described as ‘a master of ominous detail’, is considered by critics to be a literary maverick, a classic writer who doesn’t follow trends, and a masterful stylist. He has also written for the theatre and is active as a columnist. Terrin has been nominated for major literary awards several times, including the AKO Literature Prize and the Libris Literature Prize.

Jean Back (b.1953) was born in Dudelange, an industrial city on the French border. After finishing secondary education in Esch-Alzette, he became a civil servant, first at the Ministry of Labour, then at the Ministry of Culture. Since 1989, he has been in charge of the Centre National de l’Audiovisuel in Dudelange. In 1990, he staged a photo exhibition, Lieux et Portraits du Bassin minier. In addition to his strong commitment to visual arts, in 2003 Jean Back turned to literature with Wollekestol, a tribute to his hometown and its steel industry.

Myrto Azina Chronides (b.1961) was born in Nicosia, Cyprus. Since her early years, she has written many essays and poems. She won several literary prizes at the Pancyprian Gymnasium for poetry and prose, and published her first book, Hemerologion, at the age of fifteen. After graduation, she specialized in General Medicine at the academic hospital of the University of Bonn in Euskirchen. Since 2007, she has been working in Cyprus at the Department of Medical and Public Health Services.