Peter Svetina

Peter Svetina (1970) was born in Ljubljana. He studied Slavic studies in Ljubljana and Prague, and for the last two decades literature at the University of Klagenfurt. His research focuses on poetry and young adult literature, and recently also on themes such as dialogue in young adult literature, creativity and writing, and the cultural history of tea. He also translates from Czech, Croatian, Serbian and German into Slovene and does editorial work. He writes mostly for children and young readers. Among his most popular works are Modrost nilskih konjev (The Wisdom of Hippos) (DZS, 2010), Ropotarna (Storeroom) (Miš, 2012), Mrožek, mrožek (The Little Walrus) (Mladinska knjiga, 2013), Kako zorijo ježevci (The Ripening of Porcupines) (Miš, 2015), Sosed pod stropom (Neighbour Under the Ceiling) (Sodobnost, 2016) and Modri Portugalec (The Blue Portuguese) (Sodobnost, 2021). In 2020 and 2022 he was among the finalists for the Hans Christian Andersen Award.

Polona Lovšin

Polona Lovšin (1973) worked with Macmillan Publishers, Zondervan Kids, Templar Publishing, Penguin Books, and other publishing houses as an illustrator and designer of gift books from 2010 to 2015. Her picture books were translated and reviewed in Publishers Weekly multiple times. Later, she began focusing on projects that allow her greater artistic expression. For example, she illustrated The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen, depicting her in a contemporary setting. She received an Honourable Mention at the 3x3 International Illustration Show. She is interested in texts that enable her to depict emotions, especially how to bring life’s painful moments, such as parental separation or death, closer to children. Her work has been nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award and twice for the Levstik Award.

Samira Kentrić

Samira Kentrić (1976) writes articles and original books, and creates book covers and illustrations in which she fuses public, political speech with the intimacy of everyday life. She is the author of three graphic novels: the autobiographical novel Balkanalia (2015) about growing up during the post- Yugoslav transition, A Letter to Adna (2016), a socially engaged story about the fate of refugees on their way to the EU, and Adna (2020), a novel about finding one’s place in society following tragic events. She received the Special Book Award from the Motovun Group of International Publishers for Balkanalia. The Bulgarian translation of the novel was included in an annual selection of the 15 best books published in Bulgaria. The German translation was selected as the Young Adult Book of the Month by the German Academy for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, as well as included in the Börsenblatt magazine’s list of 14 recommended books translated from Slovenian. In 2022, her illustration for the cover of the street paper Kralji ulice received the Best Cover Award from the International Network of Street Papers, as determined by a public vote.

Silvan Omerzu

Silvan Omerzu (1955) is a director, painter, illustrator, and puppet designer. After finishing his studies at the Pedagogical Academy, he started working at the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre, leaving for Prague in 1983 to advance his studies in puppet show scenography and puppet design. In the early 1990s, he co- founded the independent Konj Puppet Theatre and was a regular collaborator of the Minor Central Puppet Theatre in Prague. Later, he worked with various theatres in Slovenia and abroad as a freelance artist, creating numerous high- profile shows. His creative path is characterised by a distinct interdisciplinary nature, never committing himself to a single artistic discipline or medium as a creator, instead simultaneously operating as a visual artist, scenographer, puppeteer, and stage director. He has illustrated numerous books for children and adults, and regularly contributed to the Ciciban and Cicido magazines. He has received numerous awards in Slovenia and abroad for his all-round work, including the Prešeren Fund Award.

Špela Frilc

Suzana Tratnik

Suzana Tratnik (1963) studied sociology at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Ljubljana and holds a master’s degree in gender anthropology from the Institutum Studiorum Humanitatis. She is a writer, translator, sociologist, essayist, and lesbian activist. Apart from her many novels and short story collections for adults, Tratnik has also published several successful YA novels: My name is Damian (2001), Bingo or Life! (2017), Ava (2021). Among others, Suzana Tratnik has received the Prešeren Foundation Award, as well as the Desetnica Award and the Levstik Award for her children’s books. Two main themes in her fiction are the marginal fates in contemporary urban life and the depiction of childhood in the Yugoslavia of the 1960s and 1970s.

Suzi Bricelj

Suzi Bricelj (1971) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana (ALUO), then enrolled at the Department of Visual Communication at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava. She attended postgraduate studies at the École Supérieure des Arts Graphiques and the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. To date, she has illustrated more than 40 picture books, books, and textbooks. As an assistant professor at the ALUO Department of Visual Communication Design, she chairs and lectures on illustration. She has received a number of awards and accolades for her work, including the Golden Bird Award, the University Prešeren Award, the Hinko Smrekar Distinction, the Best Book Design Award in the Children’s and Young Adult category, the Levstik Award, and the Kristina Brenkova Award. Books with her illustrations have repeatedly received the Golden Pear Rating, and she has been included in the White Ravens selection. Her illustrations have been displayed at both solo shows and numerous curated illustration exhibitions in Slovenia and abroad, including at illustration biennials in Ljubljana, Zagreb, and Bratislava.

Tanja Komadina

Tanja Komadina (1976) is an illustrator, comics artist, graphic designer, and art editor at the Mladinska Knjiga Publishing House. She is interested in the intense interweaving of text and artistic images, which results in imaginatively illustrated literary works. She mainly illustrates children’s fiction, collaborates with children’s magazines, and creates comics and novel covers for adults. She provided the artwork for a Maribor Puppet Theatre puppet show with characters, adapted from a comic book. Her works in the fields of comics and illustration have received the Golden Pear Rating. Several of the books she illustrated have been included in the White Ravens selection (A Fine Bicycle, Behind Nine Trees, The Secret KRVZ Society, The Magic Bone). Her comic book A Fine Bicycle has been translated into Swedish. She has exhibited her works in Slovenia and abroad, receiving accolades, nominations, and awards for them, including a nomination for the Kristina Brenkova Original Slovenian Picture Book Award for The Magic Bone, as well as the Levstik Award for her illustrations in the book The Lady With the Hat by Maša Ogrizek.

Tilka Jamnik

Tilka Jamnik is an expert in the field of youth literature and reading with many years of experience in promoting reading among young people and intergenerational reading. She is an external associate of the Ljubljana City Library, Pionirska – Centre for Youth Literature and Librarianship, co-author of several textbooks and manuals for teaching literature in the first three years of primary school, Vice President of the Slovenian Reading Badge Society, and Vice President of the Slovenian Section of IBBY. She also wrote two picture books about reading, illustrated by Peter Škerl. She is the recipient of several awards, among others the International Literacy Association Maryann Manning Special Service Award in 2019, the award’s only European recipient.

Tina Bilban

Tina Bilban (1983) is a writer, editor, translator, literary critic and researcher. Since her PhD in literature studies, she has been focusing especially on the crossroads between literature, philosophy and science, and has recently been focusing especially on children’s literature. She is the President of the Slovenian section of IBBY and a member of the IBBY Executive Committee (2022-2024); she was a member of the Hans Christian Andersen Award jury in 2020 and 2022, and is a member of the BolognaRagazzi Award 2024.