DaWastl (*1982), Graz has devoted himself entirely to poetry and play on words. He has been touring the stages in the German-speaking countries since 2019. He loves public speaking and calls himself a serious literary verb-breaker, convicted of fatal rhyme-breaking. But please don’t get distracted, because otherwise the words will fail afterwards. Kolja Fach (*1998), Hamburg is an award-winning slamp poet, comedian and author. He lives and works in Hamburg and studies journalism and philosophy at the TU Dortmund. He also works as a freelance journalist for various editorial offices and in numerous projects as a copywriter, speaker and moderator. Silke Gruber (*1981), Innsbruck is full-time mother, in between studies to become a teacher (German, psychology and philosophy). She publishes short prose, poetry and dialects in magazines and anthologies (most recently in “Irre schön”, Satyr 2021) and is a member of the Innsbruck reading stage FHK5K, and also frequently on the road as a slam poet. Shafia Khawaja (1999), Wien has been present on the local poetry slam stages since 2019. She was a finalist at the Vienna-Lower Austria-Burgenland State Championships in 2020. Last year she placed third at the Austrian State Championships. With her performances she manages the balancing act between funny and serious. Klaus Lederwasch (1975), Graz is an author, singer-songwriter, two-time Austrian champion in the poetry slam (2012 individual, 2017 team) and Styrian-Carinthian runner-up 2019, as well as curator, workshop leader and moderator and chairman of the 1st Graz reading stage. He publishes in literary magazines and anthologies and performs throughout the German-speaking world. Current solo program: “Egotrip for two” with Mario Tomic. Marius Loy (*1991), Baden-Württemberg moderates poetry slams in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate and leads slam seminars for the Bund Deutscher Amateurtheater as well as workshops for didactics and teacher training in Reutlingen. He is a guest speaker at the Ludwigsburg University of Education and works for various other educational institutions. In 2018 he became Baden-Württemberg’s runner-up in the poetry slam. Trisha Radda (1989), Graz organizes and supervises the Graz poetry slam scene. She has been publishing short stories, poems and novellas since the age of 15. In 2017 she represented Carinthia for the first time at the Austrian Poetry Slam Championships. Trisha writes a lot and likes it – and is therefore at the start of almost every slam with new texts. Christine Teichmann (*1964), Graz is a slam poet, author, actress and cabaret artist. She has been on stage with her texts since 2011 and has won cabaret prizes such as the “Reinheimer Satirelöwin 2021” and the “Freistädter Frischling 2019”. She was a finalist at the Austrian Championships in Klagenfurt in 2018 in the individual competition and was runner-up with Wittrich in the Team Slam, which she was able to defend in Linz in 2021. Katharina Wenty (1995), Wien is an award-winning author and short filmmaker. She has been on poetry slam stages since 2016 and has now performed in over ten countries on three continents, including the Future Congress of the Greens in Europe, Earth Talks, 4Gamechangers, the Erlangen Poetry Festival, the Deichbrand Festival and many more. In 2018 she became Poetry Slam State Champion for Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland and won the 5th place at the Poetry Slam European Championship. Moderation: Lukas Hofbauer (1996), Klagenfurt/Graz After graduating from high school, Lukas moved to Graz, where he is now part of the core team of the slam scene. In addition to his own successful appearances, he has also taken on numerous organizational tasks and is diligently active in scene and youth work. In Carinthia, he mainly took on the role of moderator, which he does more than great.
