Proof/Read Biographies

Sergio Baur is an historian, diplomat and Minister of Culture at the "Dirección de Asuntos Culturales de Cancillería Argentina.” He is a member of COFRA (Comité para la Organizacion de la Presencia de Argentina Frankfurt), the organization committee of the Argentine Foreign Ministry. He is curator of the exhibition “Argentina's literary avant-garde 1920 - 1940" ("De prism y Proas: Vanguardias liter arias argentinas 1920-1940”).

Timo Berger (*1974 in Stuttgart) is a writer, translator and journalist. He studied literature and Latin American studies in Tübingen, Buenos Aires and Berlin. In 2004, together with Washington Cucurto, Christian de Nápoli and Elizabeth Neira, he initiated the poetry festival “Salida al mar" in Buenos Aires. He is also cofounder of the mobile Latin American Poetry Festival "Latinale" and the digital anthology “Latin-Log". In 2007, he was a jury member for the “Anna Seghers Prize”. He has translated numerous Argentine and Latin American authors, such as Fabián Casas, Washington Cucurto, Cecilia Pavón and Germán Carrasco. Berger's work has been published by the Argentine publishers Vox and Eloísa Cartonera, and in Germany by SuKuLTuR Berlin.

Rike Bolte (*1971 in Kassel) is a research associate at the Lateinamerika-Institut der Freien Universität Berlin. She has written numerous scholarly articles on Latin American literature, and works as a translator and freelance journalist based in Buenos Aires and Berlin. She is the editor of an anthology of texts by Angélica Gorod. Together with Timothy Berger, she cofounded the Latin American mobile Poetry Festival "Latinale".

Félix Bruzzone (*1976 in Buenos Aires) studied literature and is co-editor of the independent publishing company Tamarisco, which published his first volume of short stories in 2008 ("76", Berenberg 2010). His debut novel "Los topos” was published in 2009. The son of a "disappeared," his writing focuses intensively on the military dictatorship in Argentina. He has also published in anthologies, such as "Uno a uno" and "Buenos Aires / Escala 1:1”.

Eloísa Cartonera is an Argentine publishing house located in Buenos Aires and headed by the Argentine writers Fabián Casas and Washington Cucurto. It publishes primarily contemporary and avant-garde Latin American literature, but also publishes books in English and German in small print runs. Volunteers are former Cartoneros and the unemployed. The pages of the texts are made of cardboard binding, which is freely and colorfully designed by the workers. Thus, each book is unique. The text pages are usually photocopied; though some publications are also created on a small printing press. The aim of this social project is to help the cartoneros living on the street by buying their cartons. In addition to publishing works by Casas, who received the 2007 Anna Seghers Prize, and by Cucurto, they also have published works by Reinaldo Arenas, Ricardo Piglia, Dani Umpi, Malaka Dewapriya from Sri Lanka and German authors such as Timo Berger, Nikola Richter, Tom Schulz and Nora Bossong.

Fabián Casas (*1965 in Buenos Aires) prose and poetry liberated him from a history of political missteps, a contaminated literary legacy and media hype, yet not from a sense of social duty. This engagement is evinced by the publishing project Eloísa Cartonera, which he founded together with Washington Cucurto and the visual artists Javier Barilaro and Fernanda Laguna. In 2007, he was awarded the Anna Seghers Prize for Latin American literature.

Estebán Castroman (*1975 in Buenos Aires) studied communication arts at the University of Buenos Aires and is cofounder of the publishing company "Clase Turista". This alternative publishing project aims to produce books that are artistic, handcrafted, collectible and unique, thus suggesting a new form of reading. Most recently, he published the poetry collection "Fin" and the novel "El tucumanazo" (December 2010).

María Sonia Cristoff (*1965 in Trelew, Patagonia) studied literature at the University of Buenos Aires. After reading a translation of an Englishman’s ancient travelogue, she was inspired not only to intensively study the literature of Patagonia, but also write the novel "Falsa calma" (2005), which she began while a fellow at the “Fondo Nacional de las Artes.” The book chronicles a journey through the ghostly villages of Patagonia and was published in German translation by the Berenberg Verlag in 2010. In 2006, she published "Desubicados," a short story set in the Buenos Aires Zoo. She has also edited numerous anthologies, such as “Geografías Literarias: Patagonia” (2005); a collection of contemporary Patagonian authors; "Idea crónica" (2006), a volume of Latin American non-fiction literature; as well as "Pasaje a Oriente" (2009 ), a collection of travelogues by Argentine authors (2009). She teaches at the Escuela de escritor del Centro Cultural Ricardo Rojas" and has published in various magazines and newspapers. In 2010, she will work in Leipzig as part of the Argentine-German project "Rayuela.” Her new novel, "Bajo influencia" will be published in November 2010.

Washington Cucurto aka Santiago Vega, (*1973 in Quilmes/Buenos Aires) is a writer, poet editor and cofounder of the innovative publishing project “Eloísa Cartonera”, which he started with Fabián Casas and the artists Javier Barilaro and Fernanda Laguna. Initiated as a social project to help the carton/paper collectors in Buenos Aires, the publishing company has become a role model for many other social-artistic projects in Latin America. In 1997, Cucurto published his first book of poetry, "Zelarayán," which was awarded the "Diario de Poesía” prize. He describes his narrative style as "realismo atolondrado" ("careless realism"). Thus far, he has one work published in German translation: “Die Maschine, die kleine Paraguayanerinnen macht“ (2004). Other publications include: "Cosa de Negros" (2003), "Las aventuras del Señor Maiz" (2005) and "El curandero del amor" (2007).

Silvia Fehrmann (*1965 in Buenos Aires) is a literary scholar, translator and journalist. She taught at the University of Buenos Aires and has written for Argentine media such as Página 12, Clarín and La Nación. After a stint as a foreign correspondent in New York from 2004 to 2007, she headed the public relations department at the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxembourg-Platz. Since February 2008, she had been head of communications at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt. Recent publications include: Bernd M. Scherer, Susanne Stemmler, Valerie Smith (ed.) in collaboration with Nevim Çil Manthia Diawara, Silvia Fehrmann, Navid Kermani and Yang Lian: 1989 - Globale Geschichten (Wallenstein, Göttingen, 2009); Silvia Fehrmann, Irina Podgorny, Wolfgang Schäffner (eds): Un Colón para los datos: Humboldt y el diseño del saber (Redes, Buenos Aires, 2008).

Martín Kohan (*1967 in Buenos Aires) is a writer and teaches literary theory in Buenos Aires and Trelew (Patagonia). In 2007, he won the "El Premio Herralde" award with his novel "Ciencias morales," which he published under the pseudonym Miguel Cane (“Sittenlehre” Suhrkamp 2010). Books published in German include the novel "Zweimal Juni" (Suhrkamp 2009), which was shortlisted for the "International Literature Award- Haus der Kulturen der Welt" in 2009. In his work, he takes a critical look at national identity, military dictatorship, political and literary aesthetics.

Gustavo Darío López (*1959 in Bahia Blanca, Argentina) is founder of the independent Argentine publishing company “Editorial Vox "and its eponymously named magazine. Both media outlets are dedicated to contemporary Argentine and Latin American poetry. The focus is on innovative graphics and aesthetics as well as promoting young talent by opening new spaces of reflection. "Editorial Vox" was initiated in 1981, and is part of a cultural project in Bahía Blanca which promotes visual arts, music, literature, education and theater.

Pedro Mairal (*1970 in Buenos Aires) studied English Literature at the Universidad del Salvador in Buenos Aires. In 2007, he was named as one of the best young Latin American writers by the jury for the festival “Bogotá 39 ". His first novel, "Una noche con Sabrina Love" was honored with the "Premio Clarín de Novela" award in 2000, and also made into a motion picture. Like many other young Argentine writers, Mairal experiments with digital media. His publications include: "El año del desierto" (2005), "Salvatierra" (2008), "Hoy temprano" (2001), the poetry collection "Tigre como los Pajaros" (1996) and "Consumidor final" (2003).

Lina Meruane (*1970, Santiago de Chile) is a writer, essayist and lecturer of Latin American literature at New York University where she teaches creative writing. She has published numerous short stories in various anthologies, as well as three novels: "Cercada" (2000), "Póstuma " (2000) and "Fruta podrida" (2007), the last novel was written with the support of a Guggenheim and a “National Endowment for the Arts "(USA) Scholarship. She currently holds a Guggenheim Fellowship for a yet unpublished novel. Lina Meruan is participating in the 2010 international literature festival berlin (ilb).

Cecilia Pavón (*1973 in Mandoza) is a writer, translator, journalist and artist. She studied literature at the University of Buenos Aires. Together with Fernanda Laguna, she runs the art gallery "Belleza y Felicidad," which also serves as a publishing house and bazaar. Today, the two artists direct "Tu Rito" in the Avenida Santa Fe, a space which fosters poetic dialogue. Pavón is editor of the stories "Los sueños no tienen copyright" (2010) and several volumes of poetry, such as "27 poemas con nombre de persona" (2010) "Caramelos de anis" (2004), "¿Existe el amor a los animales?" ( 2001) and "Un hotel con mi nombre" (2000).

Schweblin Samantha (*1978, Buenos Aires) studied film at the University of Buenos Aires. She received numerous awards for her debut novel "El nucleo del disturbio", including the "Concurso Nacional Haroldo Conti. In 2008, she was honored with the "Premio Casa de las Américas" for "Pajaros en la boca". Her most recent work in German translation is entitled „Die Wahrheit über die Zukunft“ (Suhrkamp).

Michi Strausfeld (* in Recklinghausen, Germany) studied English, Romance languages and Spanish in Cologne. After earning her doctorate in Bonn, she worked for several years in Barcelona, Madrid, Bogotá and Paris. From 1974 to 2008, she was in charge of Latin American, Spanish and Portuguese literature at Suhrkamp / Insel Verlag. From 1977 to 1999 she was, among many other activities, director of a series of books for children and young people at Alfaguara publishing company in Madrid. Since 1990, she has been director of the series "Las 3 edad" for the Spanish publisher Siruela. Since 2001, she has been consultant to the international literature festival berlin (ilb). She lives and works in Berlin and Barcelona, and has been working for Fischer Verlag since 2008.

Damián Tabarovsky (b. 1967, Buenos Aires) is an author, translator, columnist (the weekly "Perfil") and editor. He has published numerous novels, including ""Medizinische Autobiographie“(2010, Berenberg Verlag),"Literatura de izquierda"(2004), and "Coney Island" (1996). In addition to his literary activities, he has translated poems by Raymond Roussel, Louis-René des Forêts and translated comics by the Argentine artist Raul Damonte Botana (aka Copi). He is director of the independent publishing house Editora Interzona in Buenos Aires which was founded in 2002.