The Paris-Frankfurt Fellowship of Frankfurter Buchmesse

Alexa Bornfleth studied German Literature, Political Science and Literary and Cultural Theory in Tübingen, with stays abroad in Paris and Lyon. After internships at Erich Schmidt Verlag and Goethe-Institut, at the end of 2022 she began a traineeship in the editorial department of btb Verlag, part of the Penguin Random House publishing group in Munich. As a German and Scottish binational, she speaks German, English, French and Spanish and, as an editor, mainly looks after authors from English-speaking countries.

Areas of specialisation: translation, editing fiction and narrative non-fiction, book acquisition in German, English, French and Spanish

Maleen Focken studied Philosophy and French at Universität Münster and currently works as a social media manager and online editor at Coppenrath Verlag in Münster (covering for someone else in parental leave). Her heart beats for high-quality and inspiring content, the written word and the view of the Seine from Pont Neuf.

Areas of specialisation: editorial planning, content creation (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok), community management, trend analysis and evaluation, website development and maintenance

Luca Homburg studied Philosophy, French Literature and Translation in Durham, Paris and Vienna. She gained her first experience in the publishing world at Der Audio Verlag, Residenz Verlag and Passagen Verlag. Since 2022, she has been a trainee editor at S. Fischer (Frankfurt am Main). She also translates from English, French and Dutch.

Areas of specialisation: German-language and international literature (especially English, French and Dutch), (translation) editing (of fiction and non-fiction), translation

Meri Melkonyan studied Applied Literary Studies at Freie Universität Berlin and, before that, Comparative Literature in Moscow. During her studies, she gained experience in publishing at the Russian non-fiction publisher Individuum, the international e-book publisher Bookmate and the Armenian publisher Antares. Most recently, she worked in the rights & licenses department at Suhrkamp Verlag and is currently responsible for the domestic and international rights of the publisher’s four children’s & young adult book editions (Ueberreuter and Annette Betz in Berlin, as well as G&G and Edition Nilpferd in Vienna).

Areas of specialisation: licence trading and management, children’s & young adult literature, non-fiction, digitalisation in publishing

Ronja Nayeri has been a trainee editor at Carl Hanser Verlag in Munich since June 2023. After studying North American Studies, Literature and English Philology at Freie Universität Berlin with stays at University of Warwick and Duke University, she spent a year in Lille, France, as a DAAD foreign language assistant. Before her traineeship, she worked as an intern and freelancer at Suhrkamp Verlag and as a freelance reviewer of contemporary German literature. She is an honorary board spokesperson for a migrant youth organisation. In addition to German, English and French, she reads Spanish.

Areas of specialisation: editing, international literature in translation, fiction and essayistic prose, feminist French literature and rediscoveries

Marina Ostermair studied General and Comparative Literature and Middle Eastern Studies at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. During her studies, she spent time abroad at Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá and the Dekhoda Institute of the University of Tehran. After completing her double degree, she began training as a French-German translator before turning to the book industry.

After working as a project assistant for the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, she completed a traineeship in the press and events department at Matthes & Seitz Berlin. Since 2023, she has been working in the literature editing department at dtv Verlagsgesellschaft and is involved in the field of reading promotion.

Areas of specialisation: editing, German literature, literature in translation, press & events, reading promotion

After completing a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and a master's degree in Publishing in London, Quentin Huon worked for various English literary magazines and publishing houses. His flair for new literary gems eventually led him to the editorial office of the Anglo-French scouting agency London Literary Scouting. He now lives in Geneva and recently assumed management of the literary Swiss Books Agency, which aims to promote the best authors and publishers in French-speaking Switzerland throughout the world.

Areas of specialisation: rights & licences, anglophone and francophone literature, flamenco

Jana Lissek studied General and Comparative Literature and Romance Studies at Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main and at Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour. In 2021, she completed her master’s degree in Psychoanalysis, Philosophy and Political Economy at Université Toulouse-Jean Jaurès. After her studies, she completed a traineeship in the literary editorial department of S. Fischer Verlag. Since 2022, Jana Lissek has been working as a junior foreign rights manager at Diogenes Verlag in international licence sales. In particular, she is responsible for licence sales to France, the USA, the UK, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America.

Areas of specialisation: rights & licences, international licence trade, contract management, literature, narrative non-fiction, children’s & young adult books

Judith Bordes studied Philosophy, passed the teaching examination for grammar schools in this subject and then completed her doctorate. After several years of experience in the school sector, she is now a publishing assistant at a textbook publisher.

Areas of specialisation: philosophy, humanities, literature, textbook publishing

Julie Davidoux studied Literature and Political Science at Institut des études politiques in Lille and completed an Erasmus programme at Universität Leipzig. An internship in the publishing department for German and Eastern European literature and essays under the direction of Martina Wachendorff at Actes Sud finally encouraged her to pursue the publishing path. She joined Philosophie Magazin in 2013 and has headed the publishing house since 2017. Philosophie Magazin publishes essays with the aim of making the humanities accessible. The publishing house experiments with different formats, be it comics, debates or radio features.

Areas of specialisation: French-language and foreign literature, podcasts, sociology, feminism, comics, political philosophy

Calixta Grigoriou is a lover of literature and foreign languages and speaks English, German, Spanish and Greek as well as French. After studying Translation in France, Germany and Belgium, she completed an internship at the independent publishing house Au diable Vauvert and discovered the publishing industry. After working as an independent translator for some time, she joined Fayard in 2022, where she now works as a publisher of French and foreign-language literature.

Areas of specialisation: publishing, project management, translation, crime fiction, trend literature

After three years of CPGE (Hypokhâgne/Khâgne), Felix Letellier-Weckmann completed a master's degree in Intercultural Franco-German Studies at the Université Aix-Marseille and Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen. During this time, he was able to gain first experience in the publishing industry at Hueber Verlag in Munich. He then worked for a year at Ernst Klett Verlag in Stuttgart in the field of digital project development. He currently works as a freelance editor for Ernst Klett Verlag, aiming to focus increasingly on literature in the future.

Areas of specialisation: Franco-German culture, digital tools, German literature and philosophy

After studying International Relations and Sociology in the UK, Elinor Marris initially worked in humanitarian aid for several years. In 2023, she made the move into the book industry by joining the bookshop ‘Librairie Volontaires’ in Paris. She is now involved in the management of the bookshop as well as in a sports and cultural association for children and young people. As part of this activity, she was involved as an editor and proofreader in the publication of an essay, published by Yves Michel in 2021. She continues to write articles on education and philosophy for the association.

Areas of specialisation: bookselling, editing essays and articles, knowledge of the association landscape