(1960, Tasikmalaya, Indonesia) grew up in a traditional religious environment and attended a so called 'pesantren' school (Islamic boardingschool). From 1980 to 1987 he attended an artschool where he learned to paint. He received a scholarship from the Italian government, which enabled him to study at the Universita Italiana per Stranieri, Perugia (1991-1993). His poems have been published in magazines and anthologies in Indonesia and Malaysia.
WIN 2004

(Ternate, Indonesia, 1971) has had her 2005 short story collection, Laluba, named Best Literary Work of the Year by Tempo magazine, and her novel Cala Ibi (2003) shortlisted for the Khatulistiwa Literary Award. Both works have marked the latest phenomenon in Indonesian literature by their détournement from the tradition of story telling and conventional narrative forms. At present, she serves on the Committee of Literature at the Jakarta Arts Council.

(Tunisia, 1960) is a writer, essayist, traveller and popular panel moderator. He has published fiction and non-fiction; was the director of the debating platform and venue De Balie; and was founder of the literary bookshop Perdu and the cultural centre De Tolhuistuin (all in Amsterdam). He performed with Enkidu Khaled in their jointly created documentary play Bagdad. Due to his curiosity about how artists recreate their cities after a crisis, he travelled to Sarajevo, Beirut, Tirana, Algiers, New York, Kiev, Jakarta and Qamishlo. At the invitation of PAX, he wrote Srebrenica & PAX 1995-2020, an overview of 25 years of support to the Association of Women of Srebrenica by the IKV and PAX in response to the genocide in Bosnia. In 2021 he published Gastvrijheid (Hospitality), in which he explores the art of hospitality through a mix of travel stories, observations, memories and imagery.