Ana Podvršič (1984) obtained a PhD in sociology and economy from the University of Ljubljana and the University Paris-13 – Villetaneuse in 2018. She was a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow at the University of Graz, and is currently a lecture at the University of Graz. In 2020, she received the Slovenian Sociological Association award for her research in sociology.

Ana Razpotnik is self-employed in culture, she illustrates books for children and youth. as well as illustrating, she likes to paint and make sculptures, producing puppets and graphics. She resides and works in Perugia, Italy.

Ana Schnabl (1985) is a writer and editor. A doctoral student of phi- losophy, her research focuses on feminist autobiography. She writes for several Slovenian literary jour- nals, has collaborated with the daily Dnevnik and is the first editor of the Versopolis Review. In 2017, her short story collection Razvezani (Disentan- gling) received the Best Debut Award at the annual Slovenian Book Fair as well as a number of nominations for other awards. So far, she has writ- ten two novels, namely Mojstrovina (The Masterpiece) and Plima (Tide), and she is currently working on a collection of novellas about failed (fictional) female artists and a

non-fiction book about mushrooms. Her first literary translation, Daisy Johnson’s Sisters, will be published in 2022. In her spare time, she is a helicopter parent to two dogs and a cat and dreams of having a vegetable garden.

Ana graduated in Painting from the academy of Fine arts in Ljubljana in 1997, and continued her studies at the indiana University of Pennsylvania (USA) in the Department of Graphics. She further developed her artistic skills at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris. Since 2000 she has been working as a freelance artist, exhibiting extensively as a painter and graphic artist, and, since 2003, illustrating books for children and youth.

Andrej Jemec was born on 29 November 1934 in Ljubljana. He studied painting at the Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts from 1953 to 1958 with Professors Marij Pregelj and Gabrijel Stupica,  and graphic art with Riko Debenjak and Božidar Jakac. In 1958, Jemec earned a BA in painting under Prof. Gabrijel Stupica. He spent the academic year 1963/64 at J. Friedlaender’s studio in Paris and London, on a Prešeren Fund Grant. He started his professional career as Art teacher at the Šentvid pri Ljubljani Primary School (1958 to 1961), and worked as free agent (1961 to 1973). In 1973, he was appointed Assistant Professor of drawing and painting and started teaching at the Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts, and was promoted to Full Professor in 1984. Jemec serves as Academy Dean for two terms (1977 to 1981). He was elected Member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts on 6 June 1995. As Dean of the Academy of Fine Arts, Jemec proposed the addition of Department of Design, which began operating in 1984, and to which he served as first Head until 1988. Jemec expresses himself artistically through drawing, painting and graphic art, as well as through sculpting, tapestry and design. His larger design projects include advising and colour scheme solutions for the Ljubljana-based Cankarjev dom cultural and congress centre, particularly the Gallus and Kosovel Halls. He has exhibited his work since his first jubilee Academy exhibition in Ljubljana (1956), first as a participant in group exhibitions, but since 1959, also in solo exhibitions. He occasionally writes texts on culture and education.

Jemec participated in numerous international group exhibitions and international biennials and received numerous awards. His pieces are kept and displayed in various galleries, museums and collections in Slovenia and internationally.

Andrej Pezelj (1978) is a sociologist. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, University of Ljubljana and earned his PhD in sociology at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana in 2016. From 2012 to 2022, he worked as a professor of Theory of Art at the School of Arts, University of Nova Gorica.

Andrej Predin attended primary and secondary school in Maribor before moving to Ljubljana, where he studied biology. During his studies, he spent a year in China, travelled from Tibet to Hong Kong and explored nature.

His first novel, On a green bough (Na zeleno vejo), was written after his return to Slovenia. After being shortlisted for the Cankar Award, the book raised a lot of dust for its allegedly inappropriate content. This was followed by the novel Teahers (Učiteljice), in which he describes his years as a primary school biology teacher. His third novel, Future Ltd. (Prihodnost d.o.o), completed his Maribor trilogy.

He is currently working on the stories about the little girl Mica (Mary), in collaboration with the renowned illustrator Marijan Manček, which have been translated into English and Turkish. So far, four volumes have been published: Mary at grandma´s: The magic hat (Mica pri babici: Čarobni cilinder), 2013; Mary at grandma´s: Pirates from Merikaka land (Mica pri babici: Pirati iz

dežele Merikaka), 2014, Mary at grandma´s: Out-of-control Princesses (Mica pri babici: Podivjane princeske), 2015; in Mary at grandma´s: Kidnpped Santa Claus (Mica pri babici: Ugrabljeni Božiček), 2018. His picture book on ecology, Yucky Pits (Gnusna kalnica), 2013, earned him a nomination for the Desetnica Award, presented by the youth section of the Slovene Writers' Association. The book has been translated into English and Turkish. In Turkey, it was adapted into a play for children. At the end of 2015, he published a picture book, Ugly onion (Čebula Grdula).

He wrote the script for the music video of the song Ballad (Balada) by Katja Koren. In 2018, an excerpt from his novel On a green bough was included in the Austrian anthology Gegen den Ball. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Maribor National Theatre, he was one of three Maribor authors whose works were staged in the 2019/2020 season. For this purpose, he wrote a dramatisation of the children's play Mary at grandma´s, which premiered on 9 November 2019. He is a member of the Slovene Writers' Association and PEN. In September 2020, he published the picture book Little aliens (Vesoljčki) with Mladinska knjiga, which earned a nomination for a Desetnica Award. The Maribor Puppet Theatre staged the puppet show Bimberli, for which he wrote the dramatisation. He also wrote the script for a cartoon which is currently in production.

With his inexhaustible, characteristic sense of humour and a keen sense of discovering the beauty in the everyday or even the unusual, the author presents young readers with new worlds from a completely different perspective.

Barbara Borčić (1954) is a curator, writer, editor and author of books in the field of contemporary art. She primarily explores performance and video art. She is a programme advisor and former director of SCCA-Ljubljana, Centre for Contemporary Art.

Beti Žerovc (1971) is a Slovenian art historian and art theorist. She teaches at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ljubljana. Her areas of research are visual art and the art system since the mid-nineteenth century, with a focus on their role in society. Her last book When Attitudes Become the Norm: The Contemporary Curator and Institutional Art was published in 2015 and reprinted in 2018. Žerovc coedited On the Brink: The Visual Arts in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1929–1941) in 2019 and Memorial Production in Socialist Yugoslavia 1945–1990 in 2022.

Bogdan Lešnik (1952) is a retired Professor at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Work, a psychotherapist, and a group analyst. He likes to call his field of interest “archaeology of everyday life”.