Alex Popescu has spent over 12 years putting Romanian literature in front of the world. As a cultural expert at the Ministry of Culture of Romania, he has traveled the circuit of international book fairs, built relationships across the European literary landscape, and worked to make sure Romanian voices are heard beyond the country’s borders.

Over the years, he has coordinated Romania’s presence at some of the most important book fairs in the world, including Frankfurt, Bologna, Leipzig, Prague, Sofia, or Budapest, managing both the institutional and human side of these participations, from curatorial decisions to on-the-ground coordination with publishers, translators, authors, various professionals. 

He is part of the TRADUKI network, a key regional literary platform, and has consistently worked to strengthen Romania’s relationships with neighbouring countries across Central, South Eastern and Eastern Europe. This long-term approach to networking and cultural diplomacy culminated in securing Romania as Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2028.

Born in 1974, Beka Kurkhuli is contemporary Georgian Writer. He graduated from Tbilisi Experimental School 1 in 1991 and studied theater art (Tamaz Chiladze’s workshop) at the Shota Rustaveli Theatrical Institute in Tbilisi during the years 1991-1996. His first novellas were printed in 1991. Following this, his short stories were systematically printed in Georgian literary magazines and newspapers. He was a reporter in Georgian and Caucasian conflict regions for the newspaper Dilis Gazeti (The Morning Paper) in 1999-2004, frequently being sent to hot points. His reports came from Abkhazia (Gali district, Kodori Valley), the Tskhinvali region (Tskhinvali, Nikozi, Didi Liakhvi Valley, Tamarasheni).

North Ossetia and Ingushetia (Vladikavkaz, Nazran, Magas), Azerbaijan (Baku),  the Pankisi Valle, Afghanistan (Helmand).  Additionally was sent to Ukraine four times from 2022 to 2026 (Lvov, Kyiv, Dnipro,  Zaporozhe, Irpin, Harkov, Sloviansk, Pavlohrad, Novodonetske) Books he has published: Period … Lost People from a Lost Territory (2004); A Home From Somewhere Else (2005); A Meeting After The Fact (2010); A Story of Two Moons (2011); A Short Summer Night (2012); City in the Snow (2013); Notes 1993-2011 (2013); Open Door Country (2014); Runaways from Paradise (2015), Skandara and Other Short Stories (2017), Ukraine Days (Military Diaries) (2022),  Ukraine Days 2 (Military Diaries) (2023), Ukraine Days 3 (Military Diaries) (2024), Beka Kurkhuli was bestowed with the literary SA BA Award for his novel Runaways From Paradise in the category The Year’s Best Novel in 2016. Beka Kurkhuli is the winner of Saguramo Award 2019. The author is the winner of Free Litera for the

book RECORDS OF ONE EYED KIPCHAK OR DESH TI- KIPCHAK in 2022.

Dan Coman was born on July 27, 1975, in Gersa, Bistriţa-Năsăud. He debuted with the poetry volume anul cârtiţei galbene (The Year of the Yellow Mole, Timpul, 2003), followed by ghinga (ghinga, Vinea, 2005), Dicţionarul Mara (Mara’s Dictionary, Cartier, 2009), Insectarul Coman (Coman’s Insectarium, Charmides, 2017; Radio România Cultural Award, Observator Cultural Award, Poetry Book of the Year 2017 at the Young Writers Gala), and Lipsa de greutate a lumii (The Weightlessness of the World, Charmides, 2025).

In 2004, he received the National Poetry Prize “Mihai Eminescu” for Best Debut (Opera Prima) and the Debut Prize of the Romanian Writers’ Union. In 2010, he was awarded the Poetry Prize by Radio România Cultural, and in 2011 he received the Vilenica Crystal Prize (Slovenia).

He has also published prose volumes Irezistibil (Irresistible, Cartea Românească, 2010), Căsnicie (Marriage, Polirom, 2015, 2016), aceste lucruri care nu se vor schimba niciodată (these things that will never change, Polirom, 2019), and Ce preferi? (What Do You Prefer?, Polirom, 2022), as well as the fictionalized biography Enescu. Caiete de repetiţii (Enescu. Rehearsal Notebooks, Polirom, 2019).

Dumitru Crudu (b. 1967, Republic of Moldova) is a prose writer, playwright, and poet. He is the recipient of the “Ion Creangă” Prose Prize of the Romanian Academy, as well as the UNITER (Romanian Theatre Union) Prize and the Princess Margareta of Romania Prize for the best play of the year in Romania. He was nominated for the European Poet of Freedom Prize (2016–2018 edition, Gdańsk, Poland).

His prose books have been translated into Italian, French, Serbian, and Czech. The novel Fünf Uhr und Sieben Minuten (Five O’Clock and Seven Minutes) was published by KLAK Verlag in Berlin, translated by Ingrid Baltag and Sarah Tobor.

Poet, Journalist. 
She was born in Tbilisi in 1979. In 2002, she graduated from Tbilisi State University with a master’s degree in international journalism and has since worked as a radio, print, and video reporter. Since 2008, she has worked as a permanent journalist in the Tbilisi office of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, covering domestic politics, social and health issues, human rights, minority issues.

Eka Kevanishvili is the author of seven books. 

The lyrics of Eka Kevanishvili’s first poetry collection »Rumor« (2006) explore a mixture of erotic poetry and rebellion, which is why she was compared to Anne Sexton at the time. Her next collection »Don’t Stand Here« (2010) takes on social issues and war. Here, Eka Kevanishvili’s poetic style, later classified as urban poetry, was clearly formed. »Selling The House« (2013) is a collection of political poems, with feminism also being a theme. 

Her poetry has been described by critics as contemporary in the best and specific sense of that word, as it is mainly devoted to social issues, gender issues, the modern world, global and private wars. 

Her last poetry two poetry collection books “Evacuation Plan” and “The transport of the poor will stop nowhere” was published in 2016 and 2020.  

Eka Kevanishvili received Georgian main literary award SABA in 2014 for the best poetry collection of the year “ Selling the house”. 

In 2020 she received another literary award “Litera”    for the best short fiction collection of the year. 

Her poems are translated into English, German, Italian, French, Swedish, Spanish, Turkish, Polish, Ukrainian, Slovenian, Russian, Armenian languages.

Ekaterina Togonidze was born in 1981 in Tbilisi. She debuted as a writer in 2011 and is the author of seven books — short story collections, novels, and historical documentary prose — three of which are published by Septime Verlag in Vienna. Her novel Asynchrony was translated into Ukrainian and published by Komora, while Home – Him appeared in Swedish (I din sömn) by Smockadoll. She also writes plays, comics, and film scripts. She is a recipient of the SABA Award and the Saguramo Literary Prize for Prose.

She holds a master’s degree in journalism and spent a decade at Georgian Public Broadcasting as a news journalist, anchor, and morning show host. She has also taught journalism, public relations, and marketing at several Georgian universities, and currently works as a writing mentor supporting emerging and established writers.

Her work frequently engages with disability, ableism, and conflict — she collaborates with artists from Abkhazia on projects aimed at rebuilding trust across the divide. She has worked with UN Women, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, and the Goethe-Institut as a writer, public speaker, and project facilitator.

She plays the leading role in Liza, Go On!, directed by Nana Janelidze — a film about the Georgian-Abkhazian war that won Best Feature Film at the 21st In the Palace ISFF (2024).

She has participated in the Leipzig and Frankfurt Book Fairs, various international festivals and is a two-time fellow of the Literary Colloquium Berlin (2013; 2017).

Elena Vlădăreanu (b. 1981) is a writer and journalist who lives and works in Bucharest. She debuted in poetry in 2001–2002 and has since published several volumes of verse, including europa. zece cântece funerare (Europe. Ten Funeral Songs, Cartea Românească, 2005; 2nd edition 2018, Tracus Arte; translated into Hungarian), spaţiu privat. a handbook (Private Space. A Handbook, Cartea Românească, 2009, with drawings by Dan Perjovschi; translated into Italian and Bulgarian), Non Stress Test (Non Stress Test, Casa de Pariuri Literare, 2016), Bani. Muncă. Timp liber (Money. Work. Free Time, Nemira, 2017), and minunata lume disney (The Wonderful World of Disney, 2019).

In 2021, she published the short prose volume August (August, Nemira; published in Bulgarian in 2025), and in 2022 her anthology Ce pot distinge în întunericul sălii (What I Can Distinguish in the Darkness of the Hall, Cartier) appeared. Texts of various genres by her have been included in numerous anthologies in Romania and abroad.

In theatre, between 2011 and 2021, she collaborated on several performative projects with director Robert Bălan, including În numele Tatălui (In the Name of the Father), Secrete de familie (Family Secrets), and Habemus bebe (Habemus Baby). In 2022, she wrote the text for the performance Ember (Ember) by Judith State, featuring Judith State, Istvan Teglas, and Radu Dumitriu.

She studied Letters (Romanian–French) at the University of Bucharest, holds a Master’s degree in Visual Studies from CESI, and is preparing to defend her PhD thesis with research on biographies and autobiographies in theatre. She co-produces the radio show Scena și ecranul (The Stage and the Screen) on Radio România Cultural. In December 2018, she initiated the project Zilele Sofia Nădejde (Sofia Nădejde Days), an interdisciplinary micro-festival aimed at promoting literature and arts created by women.

Elizabeth Kostova is the author of three novels–The Historian, The Swan Thieves, and The Shadow Land–all of which involve the subject of historical research.  Her work has been translated into 40 languages, and The Historian received Quill and American Bookseller Awards.  It was also the first novel in American publishing history to debut at #1 on the NYT bestseller list.  Her fourth novel, Mystery Play, will be published in October 2026.  Kostova’s short fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in such periodicals and anthologies as Mississippi Review, Poets & Writers Magazine, The Best American Poetry, and Michigan Quarterly Review.  She reads, teaches, and lectures internationally and is co-founder with Svetlozar Zhelev of the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation for Creative Writing (www.ekf.bg).  Kostova holds honorary citizenship in the towns of Sozopol, Bulgaria and Tvedestrand, Norway, as well as a Bulgarian Ministry of Culture Award and a Lois Roth Foundation Citizen’s Award for Cultural Diplomacy.  She lives in Asheville, NC, in the U.S. where she works for post-hurricane relief and serves on the board of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Association.

Born in 1971 in Kutaisi, Elza Gurgenidze holds degrees in Philology and Jurisprudence from Tbilisi State University. She spent many years working within Georgia’s legal system — first as a State Prosecutor, and later as Head of the Extradition Department at the Georgian Prosecutor General’s Office. Confronted with recurring human rights violations within the law enforcement system, she ultimately left public service.

Following her legal career, Gurgenidze conducted research and published studies on economic crime in legal academic journals. She later turned to literature, beginning a second career as a novelist. Her debut novel, Zaodi, received the 2023 Saba Prize for its reflection on Soviet and post-Soviet history. Through a darkly comic and uncompromising narrative voice, the novel explores brutality, alienation, and the search for meaning.

Galin Nikiforov, 58, is the author of eight novels. In 2009, his third novel ‘The Photographer: Obscura Reperta’, was published and it was nominated for all big literature prizes. In 2010, the novel ‘Losers’ Summer’ appeared and it won the most prestigious award for Bulgarian literature – ‘Novel of the Year’ Award. In 2011, he published his fifth novel ‘House of Clowns’, which won the national ‘Elias Canetti’ Award for achievements in literature. In late 2014, his sixth, most recent novel, ‘The Fox’ came out and also got nominated for four national prizes. Galin Nikiforov’s writing shows careful research of the subject matter during the writing of each book. His work typically takes on eternal themes: death, extreme states, and the striving towards art, impossible love, human solitude and the strength of the human spirit.

Gvantsa Jobava (1986) is the President of the International Publishers Association (IPA) and the past president of Georgian Publishers and Booksellers Association. She holds the position of the Head of International Affairs and the head of translated Fiction/Nonfiction department at Intelekti Publishing, one of the leading publishing houses in Georgia. In addition, she is a member of Women Publishers’ International Network – PublisHer. Since 2020 she is a member of PEN Georgia.

In 2021-2022 in the frames of UNESCO’s “Tbilisi World Book Capital 2021” project, Gvantsa has founded the first Tbilisi Children Books Festival; Children Books Literary Award NAKADULI; The first Caucasus and Black Sea Basin Countries’ Regional Publishing Conference, etc.

Since 2013, Gvantsa Jobava has been lobbying for the Georgian publishing industry, advocating Georgian publishers’ interests and rights, standing for copyright and freedom to Publish and Freedom of Expression in Georgia. She has managed a number of projects to promote Georgian publishing and literary industry at international level, including Georgia’s “Guest of Honour” publishing program at the 2018 Frankfurt Book Fair. In 2017 and 2018, she organized Georgian writers’ and publishers’ peaceful performances – ‘STOP RUSSIA’ against Russian occupation, at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

In 2016 she founded World Read Aloud Day in Georgia (since then it is celebrated annually), as well as the special award “Book Supporter of the Year”.

In 2017 she organized Nobel Prize Winner, Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich’s visit to Georgia. 

In 2013-2022 she was the organizer of Tbilisi International Book Festival as well as the head of Georgian National stands at Frankfurt and London Book Fairs. 

Gvantsa Jobava is a poet and the translator of works of John Steinbeck, Chinua Achebe, Zora Neale Hurston, Saul Bellow, John Lennon and others. She has also translated Anna Politkovskaya’s book “Putin’s Russia” and “A Message from Ukraine” by Volodymyr Zelensky into Georgian. She is the author and editor of the publishing project “Banned Books Shelf” and the founder of Banned Books Week celebrations in Georgia.

Dr Jessica Sänger is Director for European and international Affairs at Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (German publishers and booksellers association). In this role, she is responsible for representing the interests of the book sector at EU and United Nations institutions and for relations with the association’s umbrella organisations. She is currently Chair of the Freedom to Publish Committee of the International Publishers Association (IPA). From 2019 to 2024, she was Chair of the Copyright Committee of the IPA. Ms Sänger joined Börsenverein in 2008, where she was Deputy Head of the Legal Department from 2011. She studied law in Exeter and Mainz and trained for the bar in Mainz, from where she also received her Doctorate in law. Previous roles include a period as trainee case handler at the European Commission’s DG COMP (Media Unit) and management of an LL.M programme in Media Law. Ms. Sänger has been a visiting lecturer at Louisville and Bristol law schools for copyright, free speech, constitutional law, and law of broadcasting and the press.

Livia Stoia is a literary agent. In 2003 she founded the agency that now holds her name – Livia Stoia Literary Agency, one of the most important regional agencies in Eastern Europe. Since 2020, Livia owns and runs Ilustrata Agency, a literary agency founded in Barcelona in 1991. The agencies’ portfolio includes more than 120 clients from all around the world as well a carefully curated list of Romanian contemporary authors. 

With over 15 years of experience in news television, Liviana TANE left the media industry to pursue her passion for writing and communication. The former journalist is now coordinating various programs to promote reading and cultural engagement in schools and high schools across the country. Also, she built the Reading is Cool community, with over 10,000 readers and presence in several cities. She produces the Reading is Cool podcast, as well as the TV show “Matca. Literatură în direct”, broadcasted weekly on TVR Cultural.

She also runs The Writing School and the publishing house The Writing Journey. She is the author of several books dedicated to the art of writing and communication, including “The Beginner Writer’s Guide,” “Business Storytelling – A Guide for Content Creators,” and “The Beginner Entrepreneur’s Guide.”

In 2025, she founded NOD—International Literary Rights Festival, organized by the Reading is Cool Association in collaboration with Matca. Reinventing the festival experience, NOD is a vibrant mix of creative industries, bringing literature, theater, and film together under the umbrella of literary rights.

With over 15 years of experience in news television, Liviana TANE left the media industry to pursue her passion for writing and communication. The former journalist is now coordinating various programs to promote reading and cultural engagement in schools and high schools across the country. Also, she built the Reading is Cool community, with over 10,000 readers and presence in several cities. She produces the Reading is Cool podcast, as well as the TV show “Matca. Literatură în direct”, broadcasted weekly on TVR Cultural.

She also runs The Writing School and the publishing house The Writing Journey. She is the author of several books dedicated to the art of writing and communication, including “The Beginner Writer’s Guide,” “Business Storytelling – A Guide for Content Creators,” and “The Beginner Entrepreneur’s Guide.”

In 2025, she founded NOD—International Literary Rights Festival, organized by the Reading is Cool Association in collaboration with Matca. Reinventing the festival experience, NOD is a vibrant mix of creative industries, bringing literature, theater, and film together under the umbrella of literary rights.

Lora Nenkovska is a senior assistant professor at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski,” where she teaches Romanian language as well as ancient and modern Romanian literature in the “Balkan Studies” program. In 2010, she defended her doctoral dissertation on the manuscript heritage of the Romanian principalities. Her current research focuses on contemporary women’s writing in Romania. She is an active translator from Romanian, having introduced authors such as Mircea Eliade, Max Blecher, Matei Vișniec, Petru Cimpoeșu, Simona Popescu, Elena Vladăranu, Ioan Es. Pop, Claudiu Comartin, Bogdan-Alexandru Stănescu, Dan Lungu, Andreea Răsuceanu, Alina Nelega, Elise Wilk, Ioana Nicolaie, Gianina Cărbunariu, and Peca Stefan.

Luka Grigolia is a Georgian publisher representing Sulakauri Publishing (s. 2015) and a founder of Polynomial Books (s. 2021). His sole focus today is translated world literature. Bulgarian author on his Sulakauri list is Georgi Gospodinov.

Sulakauri is a large publishing operation covering variety of categories. The translated literature has a solid list of authors like Ernest Hemingway, Haruki Murakami, Arundhati Roy, Claire Keegan, Roberto Bolaño, Yoko Ogawa, Naguib Mahfouz, Yukio Mishima, Annie Ernaux, José Saramago, Ali Smith, Ismail Kadare, Mieko Kawakami, Sally Rooney and others.

Polynomial Books was an idea to extend his list at Sulakauri. He only publishes authors whose works have never been translated into Georgian. The translations include books by Virginie Despentes, Joan Didion, Leonard Cohen, Maryse Condé, Fernanda Melchor, César Aira, Maggie Nelson, Jon Fosse, Ted Gioia and bell hooks. James Baldwin and Anthony Bourdain have been latest authors to join the list.

Luka was a member (International and Publishing Project Manager) of the team, that delivered UNESCO’s Tbilisi World Book Capital 2021.

Turkologist and translator. She graduated from the Department of Turkish Language and Literature at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, Tbilisi State University. Her doctoral dissertation focused on The Theatrical Works of Namık Kemal.

For many years, she worked on the Scientific Board of the G. Tsereteli Institute of Oriental Studies in Tbilisi. At the same time, she taught Georgian language and literature at various schools and conducted Georgian language courses for foreigners.

Between 1994 and 1999, she served as a diplomat at the Georgian Embassy in Ankara. Since 1999, she has been working as the Deputy Consul at the Honorary Consulate of Georgia in Izmir.

Her translations include Anthology of Turkish Poems (Volumes I and II), Poems of Yunus Emre, Selected Poems of Ataol Behramoğlu, Zülfü Livaneli’s novel Serenade, Kevser Ruhi’s short story collection Amber Women, Poems of Pako Amiran Svimonishvili (In the Embrace of the Stars), and the Anthology of Georgian Women Poets.

She was awarded the Giorgi Leonidze Literature Prize for her contributions to Turkish–Georgian literary relations.

Maria Kassimova-Moisset was born on 5.10.1969 in Sofia. She graduated from 105th Language School and in 1994 she got her MD in Bulgarian language and literature at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. 

She started her career as a journalist, working and collaborating for various newspapers, lifestyle magazines and TV programs. Maria was an Editor-in-chief  of ELLE Bulgaria, Kapital LIGHT weekly cultural magazine and founder of women lifestyle magazine HЕЯR. Since 2010 Maria works as a freelancer – journalist, screenwriter, author. Her first book Close encounters with mixed feelings was published in 2017. Next year was published her first novel Balkan Rhapsody,. The comedy novels Notes From Chateau La Crote and  Notes From Chateau La Crote – residence Zlocuchane came few years later, in 2023 came out Monologs. In 2019 was presented on stage her own stand up storytelling show Free Falling Stories and 4 years later – the second one – Tchervena zvezda, Bl.28.  Both shows are still running today on the stage.

Nata Dzvelishvili is the CEO of Indigo Publishing, an independent niche publishing house based in Tbilisi. With more than 10 years of experience in media and publishing management, she has led numerous initiatives focused on promoting freedom of expression and enriching the country’s cultural landscape.

She collaborates with a wide range of local and international organizations, preparing analytical reports and research studies, as well as delivering lectures and educational programs on media, culture, and publishing.

Nevena Panova, born in Sofia (1974). 

Academic details: Master’s degree in Classical Philology (1999) and Bachelor’s degree in Hungarian Language and Literature from the University of Sofia (1999), and later Master’s degree in Philosophy from the New Bulgarian University (2019); PhD degree in Ancient Greek Literature (2004: on Plato’s dialogue form); Associate Professor at the Department of Classics (2013). 

Teaching experience: courses in Ancient Greek language and authors (philosophical prose, historiography, Greek lyric), Ancient Greek literature (to undergraduate and postgraduate students), Academic writing, Ancient Greek for non-experts, etc.

Research interests: history and theory of Ancient Greek literature, philosophical prose (Plato, two monographs about: 2005, 2013), reception of Antiquity in Bulgarian literature and culture; theory and practice of translation (translator of Plato’s Laws; some of Plutarch’s Lives and Aelian’s Various Histories, as well as of several key studies on ancient culture, from modern languages). 

The Panorama adventure: Member of the Bulgarian Translators’ Union (2014), and (suddenly, to a degree, and dream-like, on the other side): editor-in-chief (2018) of its Publishing house Panorama (est. 1980), focused on representing high-quality (sometimes boutique?) literary works (mainly contemporary) in Bulgarian translation from variety of languages, both “bigger” and “smaller” ones (ca. 6–7 publication per year).  

P.S. Master thesis on Homer’s view of the sea (1999) – a study to be continued, and devoted to the ever-lasting love for the sea as a natural phenomenon, but also as an unique art & culture background, with the good example of Burgas, too.

Nikolay Terziyski (1983) is a screenwriter and co-host of a popular TV show about politics and literature. His debut novel Excommunication (2017) gained a huge fanbase as the book’s first edition sold out in less than six months. Excommunication won first prize in the Prose category at the prestigious national competition for debut Yuzhna Prolet. It was also shortlisted for the Peroto award for its contribution to the Bulgarian literary context. With his second book Chronicles of the Unknown (2019), Terziyski firmly established himself as a novelist with deep interest in family histories with their roots and branches deep into the past, the inevitability of destiny, love and hatred, war and compassion. Stars Under the Eyelids is Terziyski’s third novel, published in 2022 which hit the shelves in Macedonian in 2025 (Tri Publishing Centre) and is in the works for Arabic. Rodinia is Nikolay’s latest title which was warmly received by both critics and audiences. The book received two important nominations – for the Helikon award and for Bulgarian Novel of the Year.

Rene Karabash (Irena Ivanova, 1989) is a writer, screenwriter and playwright.

In 2026 her debut novel, She Who Remains, translated by Izidora Angel, was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize. The novel was awarded with the Elias Canetti award for literature. Currently it is translated or published in 26 languages.

The novel’s French translation by Marie-Vrinat Nikolov was awarded the French PEN award. 

A movie based on the book, adapted for the big screen by the author, will be premiered in 2026. Rene is a recipient of several Best Actress awards for her leading role in the film Godless, including the Silver Leopard at Locarno and the Bronze Horse at Stockholm. Her short prose collection Omar’s Letters to His Future Wife has been published in Spanish and Greek as well.

Salome Benidze – Georgian writer, poet and translator – was born on November 12, 1986, in the city of Kutaisi. She studied journalism, political sciences and public relations, at different times, in Georgia (Tbilisi State University), Lithuania (Vilnius University) and Greece (Alexander Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki).

Salome Benidze’s first collection of poems “An Explanatory Note” was published in 2011, which was awarded Saba Literary Prize. Salome Benidze’s stories have been included in several “15 Best Stories of the Year” collections.

A collection of short stories by Salome Benidze – “The City on the Water”, often referred to as a novel, was published in 2015 and soon became a nationwide bestseller. In 2016, “The City on the Water” was awarded the “Tsinandali Prize” and, in addition, was chosen as the favorite book by adolescents in the frameworks of the project conducted by the First Channel of the Georgian Public Broadcaster. “The City on the Water” was translated into German and published in Germany in 2017 (by AvivA Verlag, Berlin). 

A photo-book by Salome Benidze and photographer Dina Oganova, about the 2008 Russian-Georgian War – “sHEROes”, narrated through stories of women, was published in 2018. In 2019, “sHEROes” won the LITERA literary prize in the category of Best Documentary Prose. The book was translated into German and published in Germany in 2020 by AvivA Verlag, Berlin.”

In 2022, in collaboration with the Delft Chamber Music Festival, Salome Benidze wrote libretto for a musical monodrama “Maro”, which is about the life of the Georgian national hero Maro Makashvili (1901-1921) and her fight for independence and freedom of Georgia. In 2023, „Maro“ was published in Georgia (Intelekti Publishing) and in 2025 in Germany (Aviva Verlag).

Salome Benidze is actively involved in the field of translation. She has translated several famous authors, including Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Shirin Ebadi, Sasanna Kaysen, and Rupi Kaur. She is considered the main translator of Salman Rushdie into Georgian. She has translated two books by Rushdie: “Two Years, Eight Months, and Twenty-Eight Nights” (shortlisted for the Saba Literary Prize as the best translation of 2017) and “The Golden House” (shortlisted for the Saba Prize 2023). 

Salome is a communications specialist. She holds the position of the Assistant Professor at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA) School of Journalism and Media Management.

Stilian Deyanov is a Bulgarian journalist and translator. He studied at the Ecole de Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris. From 2015 to 2019, he taught at the Faculty of History at the University of Vienna. He has translated from Romanian into Bulgarian both academic works (Vintila Mihăilescu, “The Transitions of the Pig: Culture and Economy in Post-Socialist Romania,” Lucian Boia, “History and Myth in the Romanian Consciousness”), as well as literature (Vasile Ernu, “Born in the USSR”) and books addressing topics of mutual interest to Romania and Bulgaria (Lucian Boia, “Balchik: The Little Paradise of Greater Romania”). There are also many translations from French into Bulgarian.

Tatiana Țîbuleac was born in 1978 in Chișinău, Republic of Moldova. She holds a degree in journalism. She became known in 1995 as the author of the column Povestiri adevărate (True Stories) in the newspaper Flux. In 1999, she joined the PRO TV Chișinău team as a reporter, editor, and news presenter, and also worked in Moldova for UNICEF. Since 2008, she has been living in Paris.

She made her literary debut in 2014 with a collection of short stories, Fabule Moderne (Modern Fables, Urma Ta Publishing House, Chișinău). In 2017, her first novel appeared: Vara în care mama a avut ochii verzi (The Summer When My Mother Had Green Eyes, Cartier). It received the Moldovan Writers’ Union Prize, the Observator Cultural magazine prize in Bucharest, and the Lyceum Prize at the FILIT Festival. In Spain, it was awarded the Booksellers Recommend Prize for fiction (2020) and the Cálamo Prize.

Her second novel, Grădina de sticlă (The Glass Garden), won the European Union Prize for Literature in 2019. Her most recent novel, Când ești fericit, lovește primul (When You’re Happy, Strike First), was published in 2025 by Cartier.

Her books have been translated into more than 20 languages.

Vladimir Poleganov (b. 1979, Sofia) is a Bulgarian writer, translator, and screenwriter. He is the author of one collection of short stories, The Deconstruction of Thomas S (published in 2013 by St. Kliment Ohridski University Press) and the novels The Other Dream (2016, Colibri), which won the Helikon Award for Best Fiction Book of the Year in 2017, and Past Continuous (with Alexander Chobanov, 2024, Colibri). His short stories have appeared in various literary magazines in Bulgaria and abroad. “The Birds”, a short story, was featured in Dalkey Archive Press’ anthology Best European Fiction 2016. In 2016, he participated in the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program. He has attended residencies in Shanghai, Sun Yat-sen University and in China, as well as The International Writers’ Workshop in Hong Kong. 

He has translated novels by writers such as Thomas Pynchon, George Saunders, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Octavia E. Butler, Peter Beagle, Thomas Savage, and Ted Chiang into Bulgarian. In 2020, his translation of George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo won the Association of Bulgarian Translators Prize. In 2022, his translation of Reed King’s FKA USA won the Krastan Dyankov Award for translation.