As every year, experienced moderators will introduce the readings and lead the conversations.
Mustafa Al-Slaiman is a literary translator and conference interpreter for Arabic and German. He also works as an editor at KALIMA Abu Dhabi, is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, and is the managing director of the Forum for Arab- German Dialogue HIOUAR. He lives in Berlin.
Lukas Bärfuss: Authors.
Jürgen Jakob Becker: Translation Colloquium.
Jessica Brunner is a slam poet, playwright, actress, German studies graduate and presenter from Bern. Since 2022, she has been organising, curating and presenting the FLINTA+ poetry slam series WORT*reich. Her plays Was wir Wolle/n (2023) and Robin (co-authored, 2019) were performed at the Bunbury Theatre; she herself most recently performed the play Im Spiegelsaal (2024/2025) at TOBS. She also runs creative writing workshops in schools and works as a German teacher.
Thorsten Dönges is a literary educator, curator and presenter of literary events. Since 2003, he has worked at the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin (LCB), where he is responsible for the German-language literature program, leads the prose writers’ workshop and edits the journal Sprache im technischen Zeitalter.
Eliane Fitzé holds a PhD in Slavic Studies, teaches and conducts research on Russian and South Slavic literature at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), and works as a presenter and literary educator. She curates the “Berner Osteuropa-Lesereihe” and hosts the sofa readings as well as other formats.
Ruth Gantert is a translator, literary educator and journalist. Her translations from French, Italian and Romansh – including works by Frédéric Pajak, Donata Berra and Flurina Badel – have won numerous awards. Until 2025, she headed the editorial team of the multilingual journal Viceversa Literatur for 20 years.
Lucas Marco Gisi is a literary scholar and has published works on modern and contemporary Swiss literature. Since 2026, he has headed the Swiss Literary Archives in Bern and also works as a lecturer at the University of Neuchâtel.
Anja Nunyola Glover is a Swiss-Ghanaian sociologist, author, presenter, podcaster and anti-racism expert. She supports companies, organisations, schools and individuals on their journey towards greater diversity, inclusion and anti-racist action. As a project manager at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Bern, she works on racism and intersectionality in educational settings. Through her agency Nunyola, she creates new narratives and inspires social change. Her book
Stefan Gmünder, born in Bern, has lived in Vienna for 33 years as an editor of the daily newspaper Der Standard and the literary journal Volltext. From 2015 to 2019 he was a juror for the Bachmann Prize, and in 2021 he was awarded the Austrian State Prize for Literary Criticism. Various book publications (including
Daniel Graf is a literary critic and head of the arts section at the online magazine Republik. Previously, he worked as a literary agent and editor. From 2019 to 2021, he was a member of the jury for the Swiss Book Prize; in 2022 and 2026, he was a lecturer in literary criticism at the University of Basel.
Irene Grüter, born in 1979, studied German language and literature and history in Bern and Berlin. She initially worked as a freelance cultural journalist for various media outlets. Since 2007, she has been a presenter and editor at Radio SRF2 Kultur in Basel.
Etrit Hasler was born in St. Gallen in 1977 and is one of the pioneers of Swiss slam poetry, both as a spoken-word artist and as a presenter and organiser. Alongside his stage work, he serves as managing director of Suisseculture Sociale and, in this capacity, as co-director of the Centre of Excellence for Work in on behalf of the Federal Office of Culture (BAK).
Christine Lötscher is a scholar of literature and cultural studies and works as a professor of Popular Literature and Media at ISEK – Popular Cultures at the University of Zurich. Her research focuses on science fiction, fantasy, horror and the current hype surrounding the romance novel, as well as reading and writing in the digital sphere. She is also co-editor of the online magazine geschichtedergegenwart.ch.
Daniel Puntas Bernet, born in Belp, worked first in a bank and then in sports marketing following a commercial apprenticeship. Later, after studying German and Spanish literature, he became a features and business editor at the NZZ am Sonntag. In 2011, he co-founded the magazine Reportagen, of which he is now editor-inchief. In 2019, together with his wife Rocío Puntas Bernet, he launched the True Story Award, the first global journalism prize, and the accompanying True Story Festival.
Raphael Urweider, born in Bern, is a poet, playwright, translator and musician. He has published several collections of poetry and written plays, including collaborations with Ntando Cele, Samuel Schwarz, Pedro Lenz and Matto Kämpf. This year he is completing his latest collection of poetry. His bibliography includes the following titles, amongst others:
Mathias Zeiske heads the Berlin Artists’ Programme of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in the fields of literature and film. Prior to this, he directed the literature program at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin and was senior editor of the literary journal Edit. At Spector Books, he is co-editor of the Volte and Volte Expanded book series.
31st Leukerbad International Literary Festival:
