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Ralph Tharayil (*1986) was born in Liestal to South Indian parents and studied history, media studies, and literature in Basel. He works interdisciplinarily with text in print, audio, and performance. His literary debut Nimm die Alpen weg was published in 2023, receiving multiple awards and being adapted for the stage. During the 2024/25 season, he served as playwright-in-residence at Bühnen Bern, where his current play MOGLI oder this way is not the way to the waterfall, directed by Miriam Ibrahim, was performed. His new work with Miriam Ibrahim will premiere at Schauspiel Bremen this coming September. Together with Ivna Žic and Henri-Michel Yéré, he curates and hosts the literary discussion series Second Thoughts at Literaturhaus Basel. He is also part of the post-German artist collective parallelgesellschaft. Ralph lives in Berlin.

Gianna Molinari, born in Basel in 1988, lives in Zurich. She studied Literary Writing at the Swiss Literature Institute in Biel and Modern German Literature at the University of Lausanne. She is a co-founder of the art action group "Literatur für das, was passiert" and the authors' collective "Rauf." Her debut novel, Hier ist noch alles möglich (Everything Is Still Possible Here), was published by Aufbau Verlag in 2018. For this novel, she received the Robert Walser Prize and the Clemens Brentano Prize, and it was nominated for both the German and Swiss Book Prize in 2018. Her second novel, Hinter der Hecke die Welt (Behind the Hedge, the World), was published by Aufbau Verlag in 2023.

Jens Nielsen was born in Aarau in 1966. During his acting training in Zurich, he began writing. He performs his solo programs on stages and in literary houses. He regularly writes for the radio station SRF2 Kultur and the independent theater scene in Switzerland. His books are published by Der gesunde Menschenversand in Lucerne. His book Flusspferd im Frauenbad received the Swiss Literature Prize in 2017. In 2025, the acquisition of his complete works by the Swiss Literary Archives in Bern was provisionally completed. Jens Nielsen is currently touring in the third season of his play Das Doppel with the group GMBH Produktion.
Upcoming premieres: Seeigelsolo, Ticino Theater Wädenswil, March 2026. Seltene Enten, sogar theater Zurich, September 2026. Next book premiere:Seeigel. Gesprochene Prosa, Lucerne, February 2027.
www.jens-nielsen.ch
 

Yari Bernasconi, born in Lugano in 1982, took Italian literature and Romance Studies at the University of Fribourg. After his debut in 2009 with the plaquette 'Lettera da Dejevo' (alla chiara fonte), he published the poetry collections 'Nuovi giorni di polvere' (New Days of Dust) – (Edizioni Casagrande, 2015, Terra Nova Prize of the Schiller Foundation) – and 'La casa vuota' (The Empty House) –(Marcos y Marcos, 2021, Swiss Literature Prize) – which has been translated into several languages. Yari Bernasconi is also one of the two writers who make up the Yari Bernasconi and Andrea Fazioli collaborative partnership, whose works include the literary reportage 'A Zurigo sulla luna. Dodici mesi in Paradeplatz' (In Zurich on the Moon. Twelve months in Paradeplatz) and the postcard collection 'Non importa dove' (No Matter Where) – (Gabriele Capelli Editore, 2021 and 2025). He currently lives in Hinterkappelen, near Bern.
 

Romain Buffat, born in 1989 in Yverdon, lives in Lausanne. After Schumacher in 2018 (Prix Terra Nova, Prix Chênois), his second novel Grande-Fin won a Swiss Literature Award in 2025. As a lecturer at the Swiss Literature Institute, he runs writing workshops and seminars and mentors students.

As a mentor, he ensures that the dialogue with the mentee always revolves around the text - the centre of the mentoring relationship. The role of the mentor is not to provide definitive answers, but to listen to the author's writing, to question and encourage them, and to make them aware of the potential of their writing. In his feedback, he organises his comments on several levels, from the sentence (language, rhythm, etc.) to the overall structure of the project and the images evoked.

Eva Maria Leuenberger, born in 1991 in Bern, studied at the Swiss Literature Institute and currently lives and works as an author in Biel. Leuenberger has received multiple awards, including the Basel Poetry Prize (2020), two Literature Prizes from the Canton of Bern (2020 and 2022), the Orphil Debut Prize (2020), and a Swiss Literature Prize (2025). To date, the works dekarnation (2019), kyung (2021), and die spinne (2024) have been published.