Hamed Abdel-Samad was born in Cairo in 1972 He studied Languages and Political Science in Egypt and Germany. He worked for the UNESCO, was a scholar at Erfurt University's department  for Arabic Studies, and later taught at the Institute for Jewish History and Culture at Munich University. Until 2020 he was a member of the German Islam Conference. His books keep causing a furore and make it on the bestseller list. The German public TV channel ZDF once described his work as follows: "He is living what he is asking of his fellow citizens, enlightment by breaking taboos." In 2013, fanatics issued a fatwa on his life. Since then Abdel-Samad lives under 24/7 police protection.

Sophie Albers was born in Hamburg in 1970. She studied film, history and literature and worked as a journalist for various magazines. Since 2008, she is an arts editor at stern.de. She lives in Berlin. Wunderland is her first novel.

Maria Bidian was born in Mainz in 1988. She studied Comparative Literature and Philosophy in Mainz and Literary Writing in Hildesheim and is a trained journalist. After several years in journalism, she is now working in video production again. When she is not reading scripts in Berlin, she renovates an old farmhouse near Sibiu, Romania. She has published texts in various newspapers, literary magazines and anthologies. Her debut novel will be published in 2024.

Valerie Bäuerlein studied photography and visual arts in Leipzig and direction in Berlin, worked as a film critic as well as a projectionist and shot a long documentary film in Japan. She received a DAAD graduate scholarship and the Literature Scholarship of the City of Munich. Her debut novel will be published by Kjona Verlag in autumn 2023.

Konrad Bogusław Bach was born in 1984 in Nakło nad Notecią, Poland, and grew up in the German city of Hanover. After completing his national service as a nurse, he studied Catholic theology, and theatre studies, Latin and Greek philology and screenwriting in Berlin, Krakow and Rome. In 2018, he did his PhD at the InterArt research training group with his thesis on laughter in the performance (Das Lachen in der Aufführung). Currently, Bach is working as a teacher for Latin, performing arts and art at the Karl Liebknecht high school in Frankfurt/Oder at the German-Polish border. After many years of living in Berlin, he now lives and writes in Gubin, Poland.
Konrad Bach is a recipient of the Nuremberg Writers' Scholarship, a graduate of the 30th Script Workshop Munich, and he was participating in the 14th writing workshop of the Juergen Ponto Foundation. 

Barbara v. Bechtolsheim studied Literature, Psychology, Philosophy and Biology in Bonn, Munich and Stanford/ USA. Today she works as an interpreter and teaches literature in Berlin. Since 1988, she translates contemporary fiction by authors such as Mavis Gallant, Toni Morrison and Joyce Carol Oates. What's more, she translates biographies and non-fiction books i.e. The News by Alain de Botton. In fall 2021, her book Beziehungskünstler will be published at Insel Verlag.

Anne Bandel was born in Berlin. She studied Dentistry, Graphic Design and History of Art in Germany and in the US. During the day, for the last 22 years, she has been working as a dentist in Berlin. During the night, for the last ten years, Bandel has been on stage singing jazz and chanson. She took part in several writing workshops and co-founded the authors’ association The Club of the blind Neurosurgeons. The first volume of her cosy crime series, Von oben fällt man tiefer (The fall is deeper from the top), was published in 2022 by dtv. Theophil Kornmaier's second involuntary adventure will be out in July, 2023. Das Böse unter Palmen (Evil under the palm trees) takes him to Mallorca.

Eva Baronsky was born in 1968 and grew up in the German region of Rheingau. After studying interior design and marketing communication she worked as a journalist, a jam saleswoman, a graphic designer and as a communication coach. Today, she writes novels, plays, libretti and essays. Baronsky has been awarded the Hölderlin-Förderpreis of the City of Bad Homburg for her debut novel Herr Mozart wacht auf. Following that, she wrote Magnolienschlaf (2011), Manchmal rot (2015) and Herr Mozart feiert Weihnachten (2017). In 2019 her play based on Herr Mozart wacht auf premiere at the Next Liberty in Graz.

 

Bastian Berner was born in 1985. He is a journalist working for the German weekly Die Zeit. Among other awards, he was awarded the Axel Springer Prize and the German Reporter Award. Berbner studied political science and history, and later attended the German School of Journalism in Munich.

Axel Buether was born in Weimar in 1967. He first trained as a stone sculptor and mason, before studying architecture and earning a PhD at the interface of neuropsychology and environmental design. Since then he has realised projects in architecture, design and media art; in 2006 he was elected as chairman of the German Colour Association. From 2006 to 2012 he taught at the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle in the field of “Colour Light Space”; in 2012 he took up a professorship for didactics of visual communication at the University of Wuppertal where he still teaches. For the last few years he has also been involved in the largest research project worldwide on the effects of light and colour on the health of patients, the confidence and satisfaction of relatives as well as the motivation and identification of staff. Axel Buether is the author of numerous professional publications on the perception and meaning of colour and is a sought-after expert in the media and in medical research.