Adriano Janežič is a Slovenian illustrator and cartoonist, born in 1972 in Ljubljana. He attended the Zmago Modic School of Painting in Ljubljana. He illustrates picture books, books, magazines (Kekec, Zmajček) and textbooks for children and youth, draws comics and cartoons (Delo newspaper). He won the prize for original comic strip at the Nedelo weekly competition. He lives and works in Ljubljana.

Aksinja Kermauner was born in Ljubljana in 1956. Her mother was a writer and a professor, Alenka Goljevšček Kermauner. Her father was a literary historian, Taras Kermauner. In 1982 she graduated from the Academy of Education in Ljubljana, majoring in Slovene language and Art education. From 1997 to 1999 she received professional training at the Faculty of Education in Ljubljana and the then Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Studies in Zagreb – Special education course. In December 2010, she completed her doctoral studies at the Department of Special and Rehabilitation Education at the Faculty of Education in Ljubljana. She is known as a poet and writer, and from 1987 to 2012 she worked as a teacher of Slovene and Art at the Institute for Blind and Visually Impaired Youth in Ljubljana. Since 2011, she has also been working at the Faculty of Education in Koper, where she teaches the subject Methods of Working with the Blind and Visually Impaired at the Inclusive Pedagogy course. She is a member of the Slovenian Writers' Association (DSP), which she also chaired for some time. Her picture books for young people, themed around special needs and inclusivity, use a sensitive approach of interweaving stories with the recognition of symptoms, and bring the world of diversity closer to the readers in a gentle, natural, but professional way.

With his passionate energy and active vitalism, Aleksander Bassin (b. 1938) has demonstrated his love of both sports and art. If not for other reasons, he came to be close to art in the culturally rich home environment due to his grandfather, dr. Fran Windischer, a president of the National Gallery society, and a patron to artists. Although Bassin first earned a degree in law, it was already when he was a contributor to the Perspektive journal, the secretary of the Academy of Fine Arts and a critic that he was predominantly looking into the art world. He has earned a reputation as a dynamic organiser, selector and manager of exhibitions, a member of juries, court expert on art, a connoisseur and advocate of selected artists, and a dedicated director of the Ljubljana City Gallery, while also being active in the broader Yugoslav and world art contexts. It was particularly as an official in the international association of art critics, AICA, that he, in the course of the many travels to world congresses, intently established contacts with connoisseurs and artists, trying to make use of every chance to affirm modern Slovenian art in the greatest possible degree.

Excellent confectioner Alenka Kodele’s outstanding achievements and numerous awards in cooking and confectionery competitions have made her a member of the Slovenian national cooking team. For 8 years, she was part of the national team at numerous international competitions, including the Cooking Olympics twice. In 2007, she added the Diamond Badge and the Quality Ribbon in the Field of Confectionery to her collection of medals, the highest national award in the field of confectionery.

 Her mission is to create new recipes and contemporary desserts. She loves her work, both as a confectioner and as a guidebook author. In the publishing house “Kmečki glas” she has published popular confectionery bestsellers such as: Torte (‘Cakes’), Najboljši piškoti, sladki grižljaji in slano pecivo (‘The Best Biscuits, Sweet Bites and Savoury Pastries’), Sladki in slani zavitki in pite (‘Sweet and Savoury Strudels and Pies’), Čaša sladkega (‘Cup of Sweetness’), Torte in tortice (‘Cakes and Cupcakes’), Piškoti, piškotki in drugačno pecivo (‘Biscuits, Cookies and Other Pastries’), Nedeljske in praznične sladice (‘Sunday and Festive Desserts’). Her magnificent book Sladice Alenke Kodele (‘Alenka Kodele’s Desserts’) occupies a special place on Slovenian kitchen shelves, bringing together the author’s invaluable knowledge and experience.

Alenka Spacal is a writer, illustrator, and storytell- er. She was born in 1975 in Ljubljana. She received her BA and MA in Philosophy and PhD in Sociology from the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. As a freelance artist, she publishes her work at Bajalka, the Institute for Publishing and the Art of Storytell- ing. She writes and illustrates original picture books. The author writes about gender issues for adults and children. Up to date, she has published four picture books in the Slovenian language: Mavrična maš- karada (The Rainbow Masquerade, 2013), Kako ti je ime? (What’s Your Name?, 2018), Modre ptičje misli (Blue Bird Wisdoms, 2019) and Fižolčica beži pred fižolovo juho, 2019. Her last picture book was also published in Eng- lish: Little Beanie Belle Runs from the Bean Soup, 2019. The illustration from the picture book The Rainbow Masquerade was chosen as the cover of the International LGBTQ + Literature for Children and Young Adults. Alenka Spacal narrates her stories to children through her original illustrations. Her works are exhibited in exhibitions both in Slovenia and abroad.

Aljaž Koprivnikar, poet, literary critic, editor and festival producer. His poetic debut Ανατομία was published in 2019 by the Greek publishing house Vakxikon, the same year Anatomija was published by the Centre for Slovenian Literature. A Czech translation is currently being prepared by the publishing house Viriditas. His poems have been published in various literary magazines and anthologies, and translated into English, Czech, Greek, Croatian, German, Macedonian, Portuguese, Serbian and Spanish. He lives in several cities: Ljubljana, Berlin, Prague and Lisbon – in the first he organizes the International Critics’ Symposium The Art of Criticism, the World Literatures – Fabula Festival and the Slovenian Book Days; in the second he is often working with literary house Lettrétage; in the third he is one of the program directors of the international literary festival Prague Microfestival; in the latter he often teaches at the Faculdade de Letras. He is currently preparing a new collection of poems for the Greek literary market and its Slovenian adaptation.

Alojz Ihan (1961) is a renowned doctor, specialist in clinical micro- biology, Chair and regular professor at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology of the Faculty

of Medicine at the University of Ljubljana and Head of Department for Immunology at the Faculty’s Institute for Microbiology. He began working at the Institute a year after graduating and received his PhD

in Medicine in 1993. Prior to this, he also worked for two years in the National Institute for Cancer Research in Genoa and after his

doctorate held a research fellowship in the United States. Beside his pro- fessional, educational and research work, he also pursues his literary interests. He was editor of literary journals Problemi, Literatura and Sodobnost as well as the book series Aleph. He has published six collec- tions of poetry, three novels, three books of essays, and two books on popular science. He has received numerous awards for his literary work, among others the Prešeren Fund Award, Slovenia’s highest award for artistic achievements.

Academician Alojz Rebula (Šempolaj (Italy), July 21, 1924 – Topolšica (Slovenia), October 23, 2018) was a classical philologist, professor at Slovenian schools in Trieste, writer, translator, essayist, editor, lecturer and Catholic thinker. The list of his works is astonishingly rich and colorful. Several of his books have been translated into different languages and he has received a several awards, recognitions and honors for them. Among his most famous works, we mention only a few: the novels "V Sibilinem vetru" (In Sibyl's Wind), "Senčni ples" (The Shadow Dance), "Zeleno izgnanstvo" (The Green exile), "Jutri čez Jordan" (Tomorrow across the Jordan), "Nokturno za Primorsko" (Nocturne for Primorska), "Ob pritoku Jangcekjanga" (Along a tributary of the Yangtzekyang); collections of short stories "Vinograd rimske cesarice" (The Vineyard of the Roman Empress) and "Snegovi edena" (Snows of Eden); diaries "Gorje zelenemu drevesu" (Woe to the green tree), "Oblaki Michigana" (Clouds of Michigan), "Vrt bogov" (Garden of the Gods), "Previsna leta" (Overhanging Years), "Iz partiture življenja" (From the score of life); a collection of essays "Smer nova zemlja" (Direction new earth) and others.

Ana Košir is an illustrator of poetry, prose, fairy tales and picture books, who has hitherto illus- trated over a hundred monographs, mostly for children.  She is best known for her illustrations of anica in the popular book series by Desa muck. She also illustrates school textbooks and manuals, periodicals for children and youth as well as drawing cartoons for daily newspapers. She resides and works in Ljubljana

After studying Comparative Literature at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana, Ana Marwan (1980) moved to Vienna in 2005, where she won the Schreiben zwischen den Kulturen (Writing between cultures) literary prize in 2008. In recent years, she has devoted herself entirely to writing short stories, novels and poetry in German

and Slovenian. Her debut novel Der Kreis des Weberknechts was published by Otto Müller Verlag in 2019. Cocooned (Zabubljena) is her second novel but her first written in Slovenian.