Buch Wien 26

Robert Alagjozovski, born in Skopje in 1973, is a writer, cultural manager and publisher. He has published two novels and four books on literary studies. He is active in various European networks, such as The European Network of Books and Traduki; amongst other things, he organises a writer-in-residence programme in Skopje. In 2017, he was appointed Minister of Culture of North Macedonia, after which he served for six years as National Coordinator for Interculturalism and Cultural Development.

Ljuba Arnautović, born in 1954 in Kursk in the USSR, has lived in Vienna permanently since 1987. She has published numerous radio features, reports and essays, as well as literary pieces in literary journals and anthologies. Her debut novel, Im Verborgenen, was published in 2018; it is the first part of an autofictional trilogy, followed by Junischnee in 2021 and Erste Töchter in 2024.

Marta Bartolj, born in 1979, graduated from the Arthouse College of Visual Arts in Ljubljana. She then went on to complete her Master’s degree at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana, where she focused extensively on illustration.

Anton Beck was born in Liechtenstein in 1996 and now lives between Liechtenstein and Zurich. He studied German and Scandinavian studies and works as a journalist. His debut novel #Jugend was published by Van Eck Verlag in 2016 and translated into Croatian in 2017. In spring 2025, Anton Beck’s volume of conversations Adolf Muschg – Erste Begegnungen was published by Kampa Verlag.

Wilbirg Brainin-Donnenberg is the director of Drehbuchforum Wien, managing director of Drehbuchverband Austria and a filmmaker. She is the founder of the screenplay competition ‘If she can see it, she can be it. Women’s* Characters Beyond the Clichés’, a founding member of FC GLORIA – Women’s* Film Network, and a graduate of the Friedl Kubelka School for Independent Film. Her short films have been screened at numerous international film festivals; Dirndlschuld premiered in the Berlinale Shorts competition and was nominated for the Austrian Film Award 2023. In 2023, she was awarded the Austrian Art Prize in the film category.

Mascha Dabić, born in 1981 in Sarajevo, has lived in Austria since 1992. She studied Translation Studies (English and Russian) and Political Science and works in Vienna as a translator and conference interpreter. Her debut novel Reibungsverluste came out in 2017.

Lidija Dimkovska, born in Skopje in 1971, is a poet, writer and translator of Romanian literature into Macedonian. She has lived in Ljubljana since 2001. Her works have been translated into numerous languages, and she has received several Macedonian and international awards. Her two collections of poetry have been published in German: Anständiges Mädchen (Edition Korrespondenzen, 2012, nominated for the Brücke-Berlin Prize) and Schwarz auf weiß (Parasitenpresse, 2019).

Michael Donhauser was born in Vaduz in 1956 as an Austrian citizen and has lived in Vienna since the mid-1970s as a freelance author and translator from French. His body of work includes poetry, lyrical prose and essays. His most recent collection, *Unter dem Nussbaum* (Under the Walnut Tree), brings together poetry and prose spanning almost four decades and was shortlisted for the Austrian Book Prize in 2025. His work has received numerous awards, including the Christine Lavant Poetry Prize (1995), the Mondsee Poetry Prize (2001), the Ernst Jandl Prize (2005), the Georg Trakl Prize for Poetry (2009) and the Heimrad Bäcker Prize (2019).

Relja Dražić was born in Bogojevo (Vojvodina) in 1954 and has been running the publishing house Futura publikacije, which he founded in 1991, and whose ‘Edition Neusatz’ series is primarily dedicated to translations of Austrian literature. Relja Dražić has been working as a literary translator into Serbian since 1982; in 2025, he was awarded the Austrian State Prize for Literary Translation.

Vedran Džihić is Senior Researcher at the Austrian Institute for International Affairs (oiip) and teaches at Vienna University and the University of Applied Arts Vienna. He is the director of the Center of Advanced Studies Southeastern Europe at the University of Rijeka and is a member of the “Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group”. Džihić is the author of numerous books and publications and is active in the realms of policy advisory and public debates. His research focuses on democracy development, nationalism, authoritarianism, EU enlargement and foreign policy, developments in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, protest movements, migration and democracy.

Katharina J. Ferner is a poet, performer and cultural educator. She is a member of the editorial team of the literary journal mosaik. She is also a member of the Ö.D.A. (Austrian Dialect Authors and Archives). Her most recent book is wir lieben nachts (2026, Haymon).

Ernst A. Grandits (born in Vienna in 1951) is a television presenter and journalist who has been with the ORF since 1975; he is best known for presenting the 3sat programme Kulturzeit and the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize in Klagenfurt.

Marko Gregur, born in 1982 in Koprivnica, Croatia, writes poetry and prose. His publications include several novels; some of them have been translated into Slovenian and German. He has received several awards for his work. In 2023, he founded the publishing house Neolit. His novel Vošicki was published in German translation in 2025 (t. Blažena Radas, Wieser Verlag).

Andrea Grill was born in Bad Ischl and studied in Salzburg, among other places. She did her PhD at the University of Amsterdam on the evolution of endemic butterflies in Sardinia. Grill writes poetry, stories and novels and translates from Albanian and Dutch. Her translations include the novel Milchkuss by Mimoza Ahmeti, the poetry collection Kinder der Natur by Luljeta Lleshanaku and Der Schlaf des Oktopus by Ervina Halili. As an author, her work include Das Paradies des Doktor Caspari (2015), Cherubino (2019) and most recently Bio-Diversi-Was? Reise in die fantastische Welt der Artenvielfalt and Seepferdchen, both published in 2023.

Ena Katarina Haler was born in 1996 in Osijek, Croatia, and lives in Zagreb. She studied architecture and urban planning in Zagreb. Her first novel Nadohvat (2019) was awarded the Ksaver Šandor Gjalski Prize for Best Prose and the Ivan and Josip Kozarac Prize for Book of the Year. She works at the Institute of Art History and writes regularly for the weekly newspaper Express about architecture, urban heritage, literature, and film. Her novel Nevini will be published in German translation under the title Die Schuldlosen (t: Klaus Detlef Olof, Folio Verlag) in February 2026.

Günter Kaindlstorfer, born in Bad Ischl in 1963, is an Austrian literary critic, TV moderator, writer, and journalist.

Nikolaus Kinsky lives and works as an actor, director and speaker in Vienna.

Manuela Klenke, born in 1984 in Transylvania, is a translator and editor. She currently lives in Osnabrück. She translates literature both from Romanian into German and from German into Romanian, working with novels, short stories and poetry. She is also committed to promoting literary exchange between the German- and Romanian-speaking worlds. Among other works, she has translated – either alone or in collaboration – works by Lavinia Braniște, Florin Iaru, Livia Ștefan, Jean Bart, Dinçer Güçyeter and Durs Grünbein.

Felix Kohl is a Slovenian studies scholar, translator and presenter. He lives in Vienna and works at the intersection of Slovenian and Austrian culture and language.

Cornelia Köndgen is an actress and author. She trained as an actress in Munich at the Otto Falckenberg School and has been a member of the ensemble at, amongst others, the Theater in der Josefstadt, the Schauspielhaus Wien, the Volkstheater Wien, the Landestheater Niederösterreich and the Stadttheater Klagenfurt. She has appeared in numerous cinema and television films (including ‘Ihr glücklichen Augen’, ‘Die Klavierspielerin’, ‘Elser’ and ‘Tatort’). As an actress, she has taken part in various festivals such as the Wiener Festwochen, the Reichenau Festival, the Berliner Theatertreffen and the Festival d’Avignon. In 2013, her book Mit einem kleinen Schuss ins Rot was published, in which she describes the years she spent with the artist Ludwig Hirsch.

Nina Kusturica is a film and theatre director and writer. Her feature films – including Ciao Chérie (2017), Little Alien (2009) and Auswege (2003) – as well as her documentaries and short films have been screened at numerous international film festivals and have won awards. She is currently working on her new feature-length documentary Marienhof (Arbeitstitel), which is due to be released in cinemas in Austria in spring 2027. Her theatre productions have included productions at the Dschungel Wien, WERK X and the Kosmos Theatre. She teaches film and film acting at universities, runs workshops, works as a dramaturgical consultant and regularly serves as a jury member and advisory board member for funding organisations and film festivals. Born in Mostar and raised in Sarajevo, she has lived in Vienna since 1992.

Arian Leka, born in 1966, studied Music in his place of birth, Durrës and Albanian Language and Literature in Tirana. He writes poems, short stories, novels and children’s literature and has translated the works of the Italian Nobel prize winners Eugenio Montale and Salvatore Quasimodo into Albanian. In 2004 he founded the International Poetry and Literature Festival, POETEKA, and since then has been the Chief Editor of the literary journal of the same name.

Mihaela Majcen Marinić (born in 1974 in Sisak, Croatia) studied Comparative Literature and Art History at the University of Zagreb, where she also obtained a PhD in Film Studies. Since 2001, she has worked in the Department of Books and Publishing at the Ministry of Culture and Media. She has published several books and articles on animated films and on policy measures relating to books and the media.

Elena Messner, born in 1983, grew up bilingually as a Carinthian Slovenian with Macedonian roots. She is the author of novels, essays, reviews and plays, and works as an editor, translator and literary scholar. Since 2023, she has been conducting research as a Senior Scientist (FWF) at the Institute of Slavic Studies in Vienna.

Petra Nagenkögel is an Austrian author. Nagenkögel studied German, history, and philosophy in Salzburg. Since 1996, she is director of the literary association prolit at the Literaturhaus Salzburg.

Mathias Ospelt (born 1963) is a writer, ghostwriter, librettist, satirist, cabaret artist and event organiser (Liechtenstein Literature Days and Kleintheater Schlösslekeller). In recent years, he has published a collection of short stories entitled Wege. Gänge. (Paths. Passages.) and the satire Originale (Originals). He is currently president of the Liechtenstein P.E.N. Club.

Johanna Öttl holds a PhD in literary studies and has been in charge of the literary programme at the ‘Alte Schmiede’ in Vienna since 2018.

Stephan Ozsváth, born in 1965 in Andernach, trained in Berlin, Granada, Debrecen and Madrid; is a journalist (including as ARD correspondent for Southeast Europe), author, podcaster and curator (Donau — unter Strom und zwischen Welten, Leipzig Book Fair 2026). Lives and works near Vienna and in Berlin. 

Thomas Podhostnik, born in 1972 in Radolfzell on Lake Constance, studied at the German Literature Institute in Leipzig and lives there as a freelance writer and director. His novels Der gezeichnete Hund (2008) and Die Hand erzählt vom Daumen (2011) tell the story of a migrant worker’s family across two generations. His most recent work is the novel trilogy Dear Mr Saunders (2024/2025).

Marie Rötzer, born in Mistelbach in 1967, studied theatre studies and German language and literature in Vienna and subsequently worked as a dramaturg at, amongst others, the Maxim Gorki Theatre in Berlin, the Schauspielhaus Graz, the Staatstheater Mainz and the Thalia Theatre in Hamburg. She has been artistic director of the Landestheater Niederösterreich since 2016. From the 2026/27 season, she will become artistic director of the Theater in der Josefstadt.

Alexander Sitzmann was born in Stuttgart in 1974. He studied Scandinavian and Slavic Studies in Vienna and now teaches and does research at the university there. Since 1999 he has been working as a freelance literary translator from Bulgarian, Macedonian and the Scandinavian languages. Sitzmann is editor of several anthologies, volumes, and special journal issues focussed on specific themes. He is the recipient of the 2004 Honorary Prize of the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture, the 2016 Austrian State Prize for Literary Translation, and the 2020 Brücke Berlin Theatre Award.

Yordan Slaveykov, born in 1976, is a theatre director and playwright. His plays have been translated into many languages. His first published novel, The Last Step, has won several awards and was successfully adapted for the stage by the Bulgarian National Theatre. Slaveykov has also published an anthology of short stories, which is currently being translated into Czech.

Tanja Šljivar, born in Banja Luka/BiH, studied dramaturgy in Belgrade and Gießen. In addition to plays, she writes short stories, radio plays, scripts for short films, theatre studies texts and essays. Her plays have been performed in German-speaking countries as well as throughout Southeast Europe and translated into many languages.

Tamara Štajner was born in Novo mesto, Slovenia, in 1987. She moved to Vienna at the age of nineteen and completed her master’s degree in viola performance at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Her first volume of poetry, Schlupflöcher, was published in 2022, followed by Raupenfell, her first novel, in 2023. In 2024, she was invited by Brigitte Schwens-Harrant to read at the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize and won the Kelag Prize with her text Luft nach unten. She lives and works in Vienna.

Livia Ștefan, born in Giurgiu in 1982, is a Romanian poet. Her debut volume re.volver was published in 2012. Further volumes of poetry followed, including Lolita 32 (2016). She occasionally works as a photographer (exhibition re.volver 2012 as part of Wood be Nice) and performer. Her poems and photographs have appeared in various magazines. Ştefan has translated poems by Mia Axelsson, Ai Ogawa, Maya Angelou, Carolyn Forché, Sonia Sanchez, Jean-Michel Espitallier, Dambudzo Marechera into Romanian for the literary magazines Poesis International and Tomis. Her poems have been translated into several languages, in German with parasitenpresse.

Born in 1975 in Merseburg
Studied law at the University of Jena and cultural management at the Weimar University of Music
Worked as an attorney and later as a legal advisor in various ministries of the Free State of Thuringia; founder of Mauke Verlag in Weimar

Tatiana Țîbuleac was born in 1978 in Chișinău, Republic of Moldova, and has Moldovan and Romanian nationality. She holds a Degree in Journalism. She made her debut as a writer in 2014 with a collection of short stories Fabule Moderne – Modern Tales. In 2017, her first novel appeared: Vara în care mama a avut ochii verzi. It was awarded the prize of the Writer´s Union of Moldova, the prize of the Observator Cultural literary magazine in Bucharest and the Lyceum prize at the FILIT festival in Iași. In Spain it was awarded the Booksellers Recommend 2020 Prize for Fiction and Calamo Prize. Grădina de sticlă is her second novel and won 2019 EU Prize for Literature. Her books are translated into ten languages. Since 2008 she has been living in Paris.

Suzana Tratnik, born in Murska Sobota in 1963, is one of the most important Slovenian writers of our time. She studied sociology in Ljubljana and earned her master’s degree in gender anthropology. Her work includes short story collections, the novels Ime mi je Damjan (2001), Tretji svet (2007) and the young adult novel Tombola ali življenje! (2016, nominated for the “Modra ptica” award). Suzana Tratnik was awarded the Prešern Prize in 2007. Her texts have been translated into more than twenty languages. She lives and works in Ljubljana as a writer, translator and journalist.

Franziska Tschinderle, born in 1994 in Villach, Austria, is a journalist specialising in South-Eastern Europe. She has been working for the foreign affairs section of the Austrian news magazine profil since 2021. Further reports have appeared on Ö1, in the Swiss publication Die Republik and in Die Zeit in Germany. Tschinderle has been living in Tirana as a freelance correspondent since 2022. Together with Krsto Lazarević and Danijel Majić, she published the book The Western Balkans: In the EU’s Waiting Room (Bpb) in September 2025.

Annemarie Türk, born in 1953 in Klagenfurt, studied history, political science and Slovenian language as well as cultural management and sponsoring. From 1992 to 2013, she was head of cultural promotion and sponsorship at KulturKontakt Austria and was responsible for cultural cooperation with and in 15 countries in Eastern and Southeast Europe. Since April 2013 she has been working as a freelance curator and lecturer for various educational institutions, cultural organisations and universities.

Marjeta (Metka) Wakounig, born 1983 in Klagenfurt, is an Austrian translator of Slovenian literature and editor. She is a Carinthian Slovenian.