Elisa Shua Dusapin and Minh Anh Mai Pham

Foto: Romain Guelat

Elisa Shua Dusapin was born in 1992 in Sarlat-la-Canéda to a French father and a South Korean mother. She grew up between Paris, Seoul, and Porrentruy. She is a graduate of the Swiss Literature Institute in Biel. Her debut novel, Hiver à Sokcho (Winter in Sokcho, Zoé, 2016; Folio, 2018), received the Robert Walser Prize, the Alpha Prize, the Régine-Desforges Prize, and the SGDL Revelation Prize. In 2021, its English translation won the National Book Award for Translated Literature. The book has been adapted for the stage several times and was made into a film by director Koya Kamura, starring Roschdy Zem. This was followed by Les Billes du Pachinko (Pachinko Marbles, Zoé, 2018; Folio, 2020), which won the Swiss Literature Prize and the Prix Alpes-Jura; Vladivostok Circus (Zoé, 2020; Folio, 2022), which was nominated for the Prix Femina; and Le vieil incendie (The Old Fire, Zoé, 2023), which received the Prix Wepler and the Prix Fénéon. Her three novels have been translated into more than 35 languages.

Foto: Valentine Bonafonte

Minh Anh Mai Pham was born in 1996 in Vevey, on the shores of Lake Geneva. She first studied Literature at the University of Lausanne before fully dedicating herself to writing at the Swiss Literature Institute in Biel. A descendant of Vietnamese immigrants, she writes about family and memory. She is also interested in our relationship with the landscape and how deeply it shapes us. In her novel project, she navigates between memories, words, and objects that have stayed with her over time.