René Aguigah, born in Würzburg in 1974, is head of the literature desk at Deutschlandfunk and Deutschlandfunk Kultur. After studying history, philosophy, and journalism in Bochum and Dortmund, he worked as an editor for WDR radio and later for the magazine Literaturen. He served in a number of juries, such as for the Leipzig Book Fair Prize (2013–15), was a fellow at Thomas Mann House, Los Angeles (2023), and recently published the book James Baldwin. Der Zeuge. Ein Porträt [James Baldwin. The Witness. A Portrait, 2024]. Aguigah lives and works in Berlin.

As of June 2024