Yiftach Ashkenazy was born in 1980 in Karmiel, a small town in the north of Israel.
After completing his military service with the Israeli army, an experience that left a
lasting impression on his view of the world, he began to study history in Jerusalem.
He also published his first novel. Titled "Die Geschichte vom Tod meiner Stadt"
(The Story of the Death of My City), it first appeared in German in 2007, published by Luchterhand.
Hassan Bahara was born in 1978 in Teroua n'Aït Izou in southern Morocco.
Two months after his birth, his family emigrated to the Netherlands, and Hassan
grew up in Amsterdam. After winning a number of accolades for his short stories in
2000, he devoted more and more time to writing. His debut novel Een verhaal uit de
stad Damsko appeared in 2006 and was nominated for the Selexys Debut Prize,
among others. He is currently working on a script treatment of his novel.
Ariane Grundies was born in 1979 in Stralsund and studied at the German Institute of
Literature in Leipzig. She won an award at the 2002 Berlin "Open Mike" festival, now regarded
as the most renowned German-language competition for new young literary talent. Her stories
have appeared in various anthologies, as well as in a collection titled "Schön sind immer die andern"
(The Others are Always Beautiful). "Am Ende ich" (Me in the End) is her first novel. It was quickly followed
up by the non-fiction book "Anderes Ufer, andere Sitten" (Other Shores, Other Customs).
Ariane Grundies has been awarded several grants and bursaries. She currently lives in Berlin.
Jérôme Lambert was born in 1975 in Nantes, and now lives in Paris.
After giving up initial career plans to become a teacher, he worked at several publishers
before finally starting work at the L´école des loisirs publishing house. As well as translating
novels into French, he also writes himself. His novel "La mémoire neuve" (The New Memoir)
appeared in 2003, and was followed in 2007 by the publication of the novel "Finn Prescott".
He has also published several books for children and young people.
Goce Smilevski was born in 1975 in Macedonia. After studies in comparative literature at
the Kiril i Metodij University in Skopje, he took a masters degree in gender research at the
Central European University in Budapest. He has published three novels since 2000. The 2002
work "Unterhaltung mit Spinoza" (Conversation with Spinoza) has been translated into five languages.
In 2006, he received a PEN award for his play "Three Dancing Steps over the Border".
Michael Stavaric was born in 1972 in what was then Czechoslovakia (Brno),
and now works as a freelance writer, translator and ghostwriter in Vienna.
He studied Czech language and literature and journalism at Vienna University.
His book "Europa - eine Litanei" (Europe - A Litany) appeared in 2005 after the
publication of two volumes of stories. His novel "Terminifera" was published in 2007
by Residenz. He won this year's Austrian Prize for childrens' and youth literature.
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