Elín Edda Pálsdóttir is the manager of the Forlagið Bookstore (Bókabúð Forlagsins) in Reykjavík since 2015 and one of two editors of the literary magazine Tímarit Máls og menningar since the fall of 2018. She holds a BA-degree in Literature studies from the University of Iceland, a master's degree in Applied Editing and Publishing from the same school and a one year master's degree from the Literature-Culture-Media programme at Lund University, Sweden.
Vladimír Opatrný (born 1978) is a bookseller. He completed his studies at the Institute of Information Science and Librarianship in Prague in 2006. For several years he worked in university libraries as a specialist in electronic information resources. He started his business with an e-commerce focused on professional literature and opened a shop in the center of Jablonec nad Nisou in 2012. He organizes meetings in the bookstore focused not only on literature and he considers the store as a place in the city center where people meet, not only for buying books.
Ana Geršak (1983) has been working as a literary critic and editor for a number of years. She is a contributor to various literary journals, newspapers, web portals and the national radio. She was on the organisational team for the international critics’ symposium coordinated by the Slovene Literary Critics’ Association. In 2011, she received the Stritar Award, which is presented annually by the Slovene Writers’ Association to the most promising literary critic.
Bora Babić is editrix-in-chief and directress of the publishing house Akademska knjiga. She is also the co-founder and vice-president of the UPIS-Association of Serbian Professional Publishers. She began her professional career working in the publishing department for both Matica srpska Novi Sad and Izdavačka knjižarnica Zorana Stojanovića.
Thorgeir Tryggvason is a critic, playwright, musician and theatre director. He has a degree in philosophy from the University from Iceland, and has been a theatre critic for Morgunblaðið, Iceland’s leading newspaper, since 2000. Thorgeir is a regular contributor to the literary magazine TMM and the cultural website Starafugl. Since 2013 he has been a literary critic for Kiljan, a TV programme dedicated to books and literature.
Petr A. Bilek (born 1962) is a professor of modern Czech literature and literary theory at the Charles University in Prague, and the chair of the Department of Cultural Studies at the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice. He is the author of six books on literature and culture and co-author/editor of five other books. He wrote on modern Czech poetry, literary theory, and – in the last decade – mainly on contemporary Czech prose fiction.
Renata Zamida has been working in the publishing sector since 15 years, mostly in international cooperation, copyright (buying and selling rights), marketing and eBooks. Between 2013 and 2016, she was the Artistic Director of the Fabula International Literary Festival, taking place in Slovenia, as well as board member of the Slovenian Book Fair in Ljubljana, responsible for internationalization, up until 2018.
Ana Pejović is a literary professional, editor and translator from Belgrade, Serbia. She has worked in several publishing houses in Serbia, with focus on literature from post Yugoslav countries. She also worked in the non-governmental sector, aiming at promoting contemporary literature. Currently, she has been developing a platform for the promotion of contemporary literature towards children and young adults, together with writer Jasminka Petrović. Her translations include writers such as David Lodge, Hannah Arendt, Adam Haslett, Richard Owain Roberts.
Helga Ferdinandsdóttir, born 1969, studied literature at the University of Iceland and the University of Liverpool and holds a Master in Editing and Publishing. She has extensive literary and leadership experience, including editorial and copy-writer work in various media and on numerous committees. She was Literary Adviser at the Icelandic Literature Center and has served as head of jury on several literary prizes, including the Icelandic Literary Prize and The Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize (the Icelandic committee).
Ivana Myšková (born 1981) is a writer and culture journalist. She worked as a radio cultural editor of the culture radio channel Český rozhlas 3 Vltava. In 2007, she debuted with her radio play Odpoledne s liliputem (Afternoon with a Lilliputian) and in 2012, she published a novella Nícení (Incitement). In 2017, she published a collection of short stories entitled Bílá zvířata jsou velmi často hluchá (White Animals Are Very Often Deaf). Since 2018 she is member of the committee of the Czech Writers Association (member organization of the European Writers’ Council).
