Programme

Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor was born in Nairobi, Kenya in 1968.  Her short stories have appeared in international literary magazines. In 2003, she was awarded the Caine Prize for African Writing. Her debut novel »Dust« (DuMont 2016) was shortlisted for the Folio Prize, and she also received the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature for it. »Dragonfly Sea« (Knopf, 2019) is her second novel. She lives in Nairobi.

Larissa Bender studied Islamic Studies, Art History and Sociology in Cologne and Berlin and spent several years studying Arabic in Syria. She works as a translator of Arabic literature, as a lecturer and as a journalist. She also hosts events with authors, writes reports on Arabic literature and advises publishers and cultural organizers. She is the editor of two anthologies on Syria.

Katharina Borchardt is a literary editor, presenter at SWR2 and a member of Weltempfänger jury.  She is an expert on literature from Asia and Africa and regularly travels regions of world on business.

Katja Cassing, born in 1970, studied Japanology and English Language and Literature in Trier and Tokyo. She has been working as a lexicographer and literary translator for many years. Her translations include works by Keigo Higashino, Iori Fujiwara, Junichiro Tanizaki, Choukitsu Kurumatani, Ko Machida, Mieko Kawakami. She has been awarded the Japan Foundation’s Translator’s award in 2006.

Helon Habila, born in Nigeria in 1967, lives in the U.S. and teaches Creative Writing at George Mason University in Washington D.C. For his first literary work »Waiting for an Angel«, which has been translated into numerous languages, he received the international Caine Prize for African Writing and, in 2003, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Publication. His third novel »Oil on Water« (2010), is the first to be published in German.

Claudia Kaiser was trained as bookseller and has a MA degree in Chinese Studies. After being an editor at China Foreign Literature Publishing House, she started an agency and, in 1998, set up the German Book Information Centre by Frankfurter  Buchmesse in Beijing.  She has been in the senior management of Frankfurter Buchmesse since 2003. As Vice President Business Development and having set up looks into the South East Asian markets, the Arab World and Africa.

Mieko Kawakami, born in Osaka, Japan, in 1976, began her career as a singer and songwriter before making her literary debut in 2007, for which she was awarded the Tsubouchi Shoyo Prize for Young Writers. The following year, Kawakami published the novella »Breasts and Eggs«, which forms the basis of the present novel. For this she won the Akutagawa Prize, Japan's most important literary award, and established herself as one of the most important contemporary Japanese authors.

Claudia Kramatschek is a literary critic, moderator and, since September 2019, project manager at the cultural office in Heidelberg. From 2011 to 2013 she was a jury member at the International Literature Prize / Haus der Kulturen von Welt, and in 2015 she was the jury spokesperson for the German Book Prize. She has also been a member of the Weltempfänger jury since 2010 and was the curator of the Litprom Literaturtage in 2018.

Carolina López was born in 1977 in Switzerland. She trained as a bookseller, and studied Romance Philology and Ancient History in Tübingen, and Palermo. She has worked as an editor and in PR for several publishing houses, such as Weidle, corso, and Schöffling, as well as for an international architecture practice. She currently works in Frankfurt/Main as a translator.

Ulrich Noller, journalist and author, studied literature, philosophy and theater, film and television studies. He hosts readings and panel discussions; is a member of the jury of the »Krimibestenliste«, the »Deutscher Krimipreis« and the »Litprom-Bestenliste Weltempfänger«.

Intan Paramaditha is a writer and an academic. Her novel The Wandering (Harvill Secker/ Penguin Random House UK), translated from the Indonesian language by Stephen J. Epstein, was nominated for the Stella Prize in Australia and awarded the Tempo Best Literary Fiction in Indonesia, English PEN Translates Award, and PEN/ Heim Translation Fund Grant from PEN America. She is the author of the short story collection Apple and Knife and the editor of Deviant Disciples: Indonesian Women Poets, part of the Translating Feminisms series of Tilted Axis Press. She holds a PhD from New York University and teaches media and film studies at Macquarie University, Sydney.  

Pilar Quintana, born in 1972, is one of Latin America's best-known and most widely read authors. Her novel »La perra«, 2017, marks a major milestone: it is the most successful and best-selling literary novel in Colombia in recent years and was awarded the coveted Premio Biblioteca de Narrativa Colombiana in 2018.

Annika Reich, born in Munich in 1973, lives in Berlin with her two children. She works as a writer and columnist for the ZEIT online column »10 nach 8«. She also heads the action alliance WIR MACHEN DAS and WEITER SCHREIBEN, a portal for authors from crisis areas. Hanser published the novels »Durch den Wind« (2010), »34 Meter über dem Meer« (2012), »Die Nächte auf ihrer Seite« (2015) and her children's books »Lotto macht, was sie will!« (2016) and »Lotto will was werden« (2018).

Samanta Schweblin was born in Buenos Aires in 1978. In 2008, she received the Premio Casa de las Américas and the Juan Rulfo Prize for her short story collection »Birds in the Mouth«, and the Premio de narrativa breve Ribera del Duero de España for the volume »Siete casas vacías« (Seven Empty Houses). Her books have been translated into 25 languages. Samanta Schweblin lives and works in Berlin.

Zukiswa Wanner, born 1976 in Lusaka, Democratic Republic of Zambia, is a writer, journalist, publisher and curator. Since 2006, she has been working as an author and promoter of African literature. In addition to fictional texts for children and adults, she has published reportages, essays and travelogues that have appeared in international newspapers and magazines. In 2014, the renowned Hay Festival named Zukiswa Wanner one of the most important African authors. In 2018, she founded her own publishing house »Paivapo« together with Nomavuso Vokwana.

Verlegerin, Kunsthistorikerin, Journalistin, Moderatorin, Shared Reading Facilitator. Mitbegründerin und erste Leiterin des Literaturhauses Bonn. Gründungskuratorin von »Die Unabhängigen« auf der Leipziger Buchmesse.
Kuratorin von kunst- und literaturhistorischen Ausstellungen zu Kurt Wolff, Anna Mahler, Marianne Werefkin, Erna Pinner u.a. Zahlreiche Texte für Tageszeitungen und Kataloge.
Der Weidle Verlag wurde bereits zweimal mit dem Deutschen Verlagspreis ausgezeichnet. Lebt in Bonn und Berlin.