Biography

© Franzi Kreis

 

Lives in Vienna.

 

Writes fiction (for adults, children, and young adults), drama, and radio plays.

 

Contributes texts and dramaturgical advice for performance theatre.

 

Leads theater education workshops, especially in schools.

 

Teaches German as a foreign language.

 

Member of the Vienna 2ⁿᵈ District Council.

 

Rosemarie Poiarkov, born in 1974 in Baden near Vienna, studied Philosophy, German Studies, and Political Science in Vienna, and spent a semester in St. Petersburg, Russia.

 

Her debut, the short story collection Eine CD lang.  Liebesgeschichten  (As Long as a CD. Love Stories), was published by Zsolnay in 2001, and she spent three months at the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin (LCB) as a fellow.

Upon returning to Vienna, she contributed as a guest author to the online platform Die Flut  (The Flood), founded by Xaver Bayer, and began her work for the theater with her first play küchenliegen (Lying in the Kitchen)  (dir. Paola Aguilera, Drama X, Vienna 2004;  published 2008). She gained experience as an assistant director and dramaturgical assistant and collaborated on projects with the theater group theaterprocedere, which she helped establish and remained part of until the group disbanded in 2007.

 

In 2007, her second book, the short novel Wer, wenn nicht  wir?  (Who If Not Us?), was published by Czernin.

 

In 2008, together with Lena Wicke‑Aengenheyster, she directed the performance Matti – Runter kommen alle  (Matti—Everyone Comes Down) (at brut Wien), based on her own text. A revised version was later adapted for radio and broadcast in 2010 on Ö1 as the radio play Matti, spring! (Matti, Jump!) (dir. Nikolaus Scholz).

Since then, Poiarkov has worked as an author and dramaturg on numerous stage productions, including collaborations with Polish director and choreographer  Cezary Tomaszewski and the performer Sabine Marte.

 

With Made in Austria  (brut Wien / Wiener Festwochen, 2012)—a co-production staged in the Vienna Danube Tower—her ongoing collaboration with performance artist Oleg Soulimenko began. She continues to contribute text and dramaturgy to many of his projects, including radio plays for Kunstradio Ö1.

 

In 2015, her children’s book Jakob und Ingxenje  (Jakob and Ingxenje), illustrated by Michaela Weiss, was published by Bibliothek der Provinz.

 

In February 2017, her first novel Aussichten sind überschätzt  (Overrated Views)was released by Residenz.

 

After completing her training as a theater educator at IFANT Vienna in 2016, Poiarkov began teaching writing and theater workshops and leading cultural outreach projects, often collaborating with Birte Brudermann.

 

In June 2023, her young adult novel Rote Zitronen  (Red Lemons), illustrated by Susie Flowers, was published by fabrik.transit.

 

In the fall semester 2025, she was the Max Kade Writer in Residence at the BGSU in Bowling Green, Ohio, where she also taught a creative writing course.

Awards and Grants

2025–Max Kade Writer in Residence, BGSU, Bowling Green, Ohio

2025–Work Grant for Drama, City of Vienna, for Rote Zitronen (Red Lemons)
2020/21–Project Grant, Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport (BMKÖS), for Hagebutten (Rose Hips) (working title, novel)
2018–Work Grant, Federal Chancellery of Austria (BKA), for Rot ist besser als sein Ruf (Red Is Better Than Its Reputation) (working title; now Rote Zitronen (Red Lemons))
2017–Book Award, Federal Chancellery of Austria (BKA), for Aussichten sind überschätzt (Overrated Views)
2014/15–Grant, literar mechana, for Aussichten sind überschätzt (Overrated Views)
2010/11–Project Grant, Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture (bmukk), for Aussichten sind überschätzt (Overrated Views)
2008–Travel Grant, bmukk, for Les Belles Étrangères 
2003–Alfred Gesswein Prize for Travel Literature
2001–Residency at the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin (LCB)/Grant, Berlin City Senate