CY LINKE

Author, Director, Performer, Bodyworker

ABOUT

Cy Linke (they/them) is an author, director, performer and bodyworker.

They studied philosophy-arts-media at the University of Hildesheim and directing at the HfMT in Hamburg and the ZHdK in Zurich. With their final production “Fallen (durchgestrichen)” they were invited to the Körber Studio Junge Regie 2022 and to the OUT NOW Festival Bremen 2023.

Most recently, Linke worked on eating disorders*, non-binary gender and bullfighting in “Stierhunger” and on transitions and queer- and trans*-hostilities in “Sohn werden*”. Other works deal besides queerness and illness* with sex(ism), the fear of falling and failing, (dis)obedience, rising up, being aroused and forms of care.

Linke's works are autofictional, research-based and a continuous rewriting of stories and histories. They are always in love with their and human vulnerability and embed social microcosms in structural (power) contexts.

Works have been shown at Ballhaus Ost Berlin, Lichthof Theater Hamburg, Theater Magdeburg, the international Annie Ernaux Conference in Edinburgh & St Andrews, Kosmos Theater Vienna, Neumarkt Theater Zurich, Staatstheater Braunschweig, Schauspiel Hannover, Thalia Theater Hamburg, Kampnagel and many more.

As a performance artist, Cy Linke was invited to the Hauptsache Frei Festival Hamburg and the 6 tage frei Festival Stuttgart 2021 with “52 HERTZ” and with “uniform” and “Schatten (Eurydike sagt)” to WE PRESENT. 2024 - 2025 Cy Linke is a mentee of Heinrich Horwitz as part of the mentoring program “Re:Balance - Gender Equality in the Arts” of the Rudolf Augstein Foundation.

As an author, Cy Linke received the Baby David-Stipendium für Neues Erzählen in 2024 and the working scholarship for German-language literature from the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion in 2023. 2018 - 2020 Linke was a mentee of Nina Peters (Suhrkamp Theater Verlag) as part of the mentoring program of the Berlin Performing Arts Program. In 2016 Linke was invited to the Munich Poetry Prize with “am Abend ist Maidan ein lautes Wort”, in 2012 scholarship holder of the Lower Saxony Foundation, postpoetry.NRW prize winner and invited to the Munich Poetry Prize and the Treffen junger Autor:innen with “Portraits”.

During their studies, Linke was supported by the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes. Their artistic work has been supported by the Goethe Institute, the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion and the Fonds Darstellende Künste, among others.

Together with psychologist Hannah Lesser, Cy Linke has been researching on groups, power and salutogenesis since 2018 and has developed the workshops “Psychische Gesundheit in der Kulturarbeit” and “Kunst und Zoff” with Lesser. Linke also invents encounter formats such as “Über Freund:innenschaft”, invited to the festival COMMON PLACES - Tage für Partizipation und Theater 2022 or the “Nachbar:innenschaftsspiel” as part of the Nachbarschaftsarchiv curated by Anna Gohmert for people who do (not yet) know each other.

Cy Linke is currently asking themself how to co-create braver spaces for visions and, in between all the offers to be against something, be for something - which is for pleasure & care?

Cy Linke is trained in the Pantarei Approach and works as a bodyworker alongside their artistic work.