Mariana Cocieru, PhD, is head of the Folklore Sector of the Institute of Romanian Philology „B. P.-Hasdeu”. She is especially interested in intangible cultural heritage, folklore, ethnography, ethnology, and literature. She published several books, including Ethnofolkloric constituents in the prose of Romanian writers from Bessarabia (1960–1980) (Chisinau, 2018, and coordinated several multimedia publications, including Voice archive: Interviews with personalities in the field of culture (in 20 volumes) (Chisinau, 2016, 2019).

Toby Lichtig is the Fiction and Politics Editor of the Times' Literary Supplement (TLS). He writes for a range of publications, including the TLS, Wall Street Journal, Telegraph, FT, Jewish Chronicle and New Humanist, and has appeared as a guest critic on various television and radio programmes. He also freelances as a documentary producer. He was chair of judges of last year's JQ/Wingate Prize.

Born in 1973, he holds Master degrees in Marketing and Management as well as Law from the University of National and World Economy, Sofia. He has been selling books for more that 25 years and has experience in various forms of trade - direct sales, online - including 15 years as a sales manager at one of the largest bookshop chains in Bulgaria.Since 2012, he is a managing partner in Bookoholic Ltd, an import and wholesale company, trading with English, German, French, Spanish and Bulgarian books.

Carolina Schutti is a writer. She was awarded the EUPL 2015 for Austria. Her books have been translated into eleven languages. Her most recently published works include: Eulen fliegen lautlos (Novelle, 2015) and Nervenfieber (Poems, 2018). She lives in Innsbruck.

Doris Plöschberger was born in Judenburg (Austria). She studied German Literature and Philosophy and is currently editorial director for German Literature at the Suhrkamp publishing house in Berlin.

José Jorge Letria is a poet, writer, playwright and journalist born in Cascais in 1951. Awarded with numerous literary prizes, his works are translated in over a dozen languages, with both national and international awards. He is also a song writer and author of radio and television programs. He has a PhD in Communication Sciences and is President of the Portuguese Society of Authors.

Kari J. Spjeldnæs (53) has more than thirty years' working experience from Norwegian publishing, fifteen of them as Publishing Director in Aschehoug Publishing House. Spjeldnæs holds a Master of Literature from University of Oslo and has broad literary and leadership experience, from editorial and board work and in various committees for the Norwegian Publishers Association. She is currently involved in a project on digital development, writes a non-fiction book on reading and holds several board positions.

Stavros Stavrou Karayanni is Associate Professor of English in the Department of Humanities of the European University of Cyprus.  He is a critical theorist, performer, and creative writer. 

Barbara Hoepli (Milan 1971) is a publisher and bookseller. She is chairman of the Board of Hoepli S.p.A - Casa Editrice Libraria (Publishers and Booksellers) in Milan, Italy. She is also a member of the board and of the executive committee of the Swiss Chamber, Milan, Italy; and member of the scientific committee of the Scuola per librai Umberto e Elisabetta Mauri. 

Jean Back (1953) was born in Dudelange (Luxembourg). After finishing secondary education in Esch-sur-Alzette, he became a civil servant, first at the Ministry of Family, then at the Ministry of Culture. Between 1989 and 2016, he was in charge of the National Audiovisual Centre of Dudelange (CNA). In 2003, he turned to literature with Wollekestol, a tribute to his hometown and its steel industry. It was followed by several books, among them Amateur which won the EUPL Prize in 2010 and is translated in six languages.