The Board
The first regular board of PEN Berlin was elected at the general meeting on December 3, 2022 for a two-year term.
Spokespeople
Eva Menasse, born in Vienna in 1970, has lived in Berlin since 1999. Originally a journalist with profil and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), she works today as a writer and essayist. Recipient of (amongst others) Heinrich Böll Prize (2013), Friedrich Hölderlin Prize (2017), Ludwig Börne Prize (2019). Most recently she published the essay »Saying Everything And Nothing – On the State Of Debate In the Digital Age« (2023) and the novel »Dunkelblum« (2021), both at Kiepenheuer & Witsch.
Deniz Yücel, born 1973 in Flörsheim (Main), journalist (Jungle World, die tageszeitung, since 2015 Welt) 1 University degree (political science), 3 books (Nautilus, Kiepenheuer & Witsch), 1 pair of prizes, 1 year political prisoner (Turkey), 7 months president of the German PEN (Darmstadt).
Members of Board
Doris Akrap, born in 1974 as a Yugoslavian citizen in Flörsheim am Main. She has been working for the daily newspaper taz since 2008, where she heads the society section taz2. She also works as a presenter of literary, social and political podiums, reviewer and author. As co-founder of the reading show »Hate Poetry« co-initiator of the »FreeDeniz«-campaign, she was honoured as Journalist of the Year in the »Special Prize« category in 2014 and 2017.
Simone Buchholz was born in Hanau in 1972 and grew up in the Spessart hills. In 1996 she moved to Hamburg because of the weather. Her columns appear in the Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazine, her novels with Suhrkamp publishing house. Her »Chastity Riley« series has received numerous awards, including the German Crime Fiction Prize and the International Dagger Award. Current book: »Only the Others Are Immortal«. Simone Buchholz lives on Hamburg’s St. Pauli district.
Alexandru Bulucz, born in Alba Iulia in 1987, spent his childhood in Romania and has lived in Germany since his youth. He is a freelance author, translator, critic, and editor. For his poetry he was awarded the Wolfgang Weyrauch Prize of the Literary March (2019). For his prose he won the the Deutschlandfunk Prize at the Ingeborg Bachmann Competition (2022). He lives and works in Berlin.
Dana Grigorcea, born 1979 in Bucharest, studied German and Dutch and has lived in Zurich since 2007. Writer, publisher at Telegramm Verlag, board member of the Thomas Mann Society Zurich. Awards: 3sat Prize, Swiss Literature Prize, Romanian Order of Cultural Merit with the rank of Knight. Latest novel: »The Weight of a Bird in Flight« (Penguin, 2024).
Joachim Helfer, born in Bonn in 1964, lives in Berlin. Novelist, editor, essayist, translator. Former online pioneer with Netzeitung. Villa Aurora Scholarship and Prize of the Association of German Industry, amongst others. Three novels and a volume of novellas with Suhrkamp publishing house, also the essay »The World Turns Gay«
Sandra Hetzl, born 1980 in Munich, translator from Arabic and author, founder of the literary collective 10/11 for contemporary Arabic literature and of the literature festival »Downtown Spandau Medina«.
Konstantin Küspert was born 1982 in Regensburg and writes for the theater. His plays can be seen in many German cities and can be ordered from Suhrkamp publishing house.
Sophie Sumburane, born in Potsdam in 1987, studied German and African Studies at the University of Leipzig and at the German Literature Institute Leipzig. She received her doctorate in forensic linguistics from the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt. She is the author of several crime novels, writes for various media and is committed to combating racism and right-wing extremism. Current book: »Dead Spots« (Nautilus).
Jörg Sundermeier, born in Gütersloh in 1970, is an author and publisher of Verbrecher Verlag. He initiated the Left Book Days Berlin, served on the board of the Kurt Wolff Foundation, and is a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg state board of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association. He publishes in newspaper as taz, Berliner Zeitung, and Jungle World. His most recent publication was »Bedeutungswelten – Giwi Margwelaschwili im Gespräch mit Jörg Sundermeier« (Verbrecher publishing house).
Head of the Coordination Office
Jayrôme C. Robinet, born in 1977 in Saint-Saulve (France), is a writer and translator. His most recent book is »My Way From a White Woman To A Young Man With A Migration Background« (Hanser Berlin). He received, among others, the Writer’s Scholarship of the Berlin Senate. Until 2021, he was a research assistant in the DFG Graduate Program at the Berlin University of the Arts.