2026 Formentor Prize for Literature
Gonçalo M. Tavares // Update 3 November 2026: On Sunday, 1 November 2026, the Formentor Prize for Literature 2026, considered a prelude to the Nobel [...]
Gonçalo M. Tavares // Update 3 November 2026: On Sunday, 1 November 2026, the Formentor Prize for Literature 2026, considered a prelude to the Nobel [...]
Michael Candeias Schneider
After completing his Bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature and Musicology/Sound Studies at the University of Bonn, Michael Candeias Schneider started the Master’s programme in Luso-Germanic Studies at Goethe-University Frankfurt, a double-degree programme in partnership with Universidade do Minho (Braga, Portugal).
Following an internship at MertinWitt in 2024 and while completing his studies, he began working at the agency again in April 2025 and supports the team in a variety of matters.
Ute Evers
Ute Evers studied Romance Philology and Ethnology in Mainz (Germany) and Valencia (Spain). She writes as a freelance literary critic for German and Spanish language media.
She regularly visits the International Book Fair in Havana. As a co-founder, she has been organising the Venezuelan film festival Venezuela im Film-¡Qué chévere! in Frankfurt am Main since 2005 and has been an associate member of the jury of the Venezuelan film academy Academia de Ciencias y Artes Cinematográficas de Venezuela since 2019.
“It is with great enthusiasm that I have been part of Nicole’s team since the beginning of 2019!”
María del Mar Díaz
María del Mar is originally from Spain and studied Art History at the University of Granada, in Andalusia. She also spent one year studying at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium). After completing two master’s degrees related to culture and education, she moved to Germany in 2018.
She worked at the Frankfurt Book Fair as a trainee for one year and began an internship at MertinWitt in November 2023. Since September 2024, she has been responsible for the agency’s accounting.
Nicole Witt
After finishing professional training in the banking sector, Nicole Witt studied Romance and Germanic Philology in Münster (Germany) and Seville (Spain) and travelled for some months in Central America. She completed several work experiences in the educational area and in publishing, and worked with the founder of the Mertin agency for eight years. When Ray-Güde Mertin passed away in 2007, Nicole assumed the direction of the agency, in which she is grateful for her knowledge of financing and business plans, alongside fine arts.
She regularly attends the book fairs in Buenos Aires, Frankfurt, Gothenburg, Guadalajara, Lisbon and London, and also events such as the Berlinale film festival, the Flip festival in Paraty, Brazil, and book fairs in other parts of the world such as Bogotá and Beijing. She was a fellow at the book fairs in Sharjah and Bogotá and has a column in the most important book trade magazine in Brazil, PublishNews – to her regret, not so regularly refreshed. She has been interviewed in media such as the FAZ, Deutsche Welle, WDR, Börsenblatt, Publishing Perspectives, Clarín, Up-magazine TAP Portugal and El País.
Nicole was selected as International Literary Agent of the Year 2015 by the London Book Fair, in partnership with the UK Publishers Association.
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