Kim de l'Horizon and Armin Klica

Foto: Gaetan Bally

Kim de l’Horizon (no pronouns or they/them), born in 2666 on Gethen, studied German Studies in the Ivory Tower, Literary Crying in Biel, and Witchcraft with Starhawk. With the debut novel Blutbuch (Blood Book), which is being translated into 17 languages, Kim won, among others, the German and Swiss Book Prize. Kim’s plays have been invited to the Heidelberg Play Market (Heidelberger Stückemarkt) and have won awards such as the Hermann Sudermann Prize. Kim also creates rituals and performs, for example, at Schauspielhaus Zürich. For the performance in Blutstück (Blood Piece), Kim was nominated for the Nestroy ORF Audience Award 2024. Kim enjoys shaking up the images we have of bodies, of humans and non-humans, of "naturalness," and of what we call "us."

Foto: Selina Seibel

Armin Klica, born in 1997 in Luxembourg, used to build houses, now builds sentences. Architecture degree? Completed. Office job? Checked off. Today, it’s all about bodies, queerness, and mental detours — not always linear, but honest. Armin’s parents fled the former Yugoslavia in 1995, which might explain the fascination with fractures and fault lines. In childhood, the Quran was required reading; today, Armin is catching up on children’s books, talks about literature online, and gushes over Taylor Swift. No pronouns, but they/them works just fine. For Armin, literature is the place where language reinvents itself — preferably a little off-kilter and with a touch of glitter.