Žiga X Gombač

Žiga X Gombač (1976) comes from Ljubljana, where he studied journalism and worked as a music editor, copywriter, and editor. He is currently the host and editor of the first podcast for young people on national radio in Slovenia. Telling and creating stories, both in books and at events, is an important part of his life. Over the last twelve years, he has written and published numerous stories, poems and comics for children, as well as works for adults, which were published in magazines and books. He has received several awards for his work and wide international acclaim for Adam in njegova tuba (Adam and His Tuba) (Miš, 2022), which was recently published in English at NorthSouth Books.

Zoe Ashwood

Zoe Ashwood (1987) is a writer and translator. She graduated in English and French language and literature at the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Arts. She worked as a translator for a decade, cooperating mostly with Mladinska knjiga and Učila International, two of the largest publishing houses in Slovenia. She has translated over twenty novels, including works by Jojo Moyes and Scott Lynch, as well as several series of children’s cartoons for the national public broadcaster RTV Slovenia. Two of her articles have appeared in the Slovene professional magazine for children’s and youth literature Otrok in knjiga. 

In 2019 she began publishing her novels on Amazon’s self-publishing platform. She has written several popular fantasy and paranormal romance series. Since 2021 she has worked exclusively as an author and self-publisher. In the spring of 2023 she took part in a romance novel writing workshop, organised by Cankarjeva založba publishing house in Ljubljana. She is currently working on her first Slovene fantasy romance novel. Her novels include Tempted (2020), Cursed in Love (2021) and Her Orc King (2022).

Zoran Smiljanić

Zoran Smiljanić (1961) is a comic strip author. Since 1981, when he published his first comic strip, he has drawn around 1700 pages. Since 1987 his comics are regularly published in the magazine Mladina where he debuted with the comic strip Hardfuckers, provoking the authorities of the time. His early comics were politically engaged, explicit and provocative, which caused him various troubles during Yugoslav times. Hence, he used the pseudonym Vittorio de la Croce for a while. After the year 2000 he began drawing historical and biographical themes. With co-writer Marijan Pušavec, he created the most extenisive Slovene comic strip epic Meksikajnarji (Mexicanos) (UMco, 2008). The story talks of Slovene volunteers who between 1864 and 1867 went to Mexico to fight for Emperpor Maximillian, the brother of the Austrian Emperor. The comic strip Zadnji let Tonija Mrlaka (The Last Flight of Toni Mrlak) (Buch, 2017) addresses the darker aspects of Slovenia's War of Independence. These were followed by biographies about the writer Ivan Cankar, the architect Jože Plečnik and the poet Karel Destovnik – Kajuh, as well as the historical Črni plamen: požig Narodnega doma v Trstu (Black Flame: the burning of the Trieste National Hall) (ZRC, 2020), that focuses on the rise of Facism. He is currently working on a project about Fritz Lang's connection with Slovenia.