Maxi Obexer

Born 1970 in Brixen/Italy.

Maxi Obexer studied comparative literature, philosophy and theater studies in Vienna/Austria and Berlin/Germany. When she was 23 years old, she became a fellow of the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin (LCB). Since then, she lives as a freelance writer in Berlin. She received numerous fellowships and awards, amongst others from the LCB and the Akademie der Künste, Berlin. Obexer was Max-Kade-guest lecturer at the Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH/USA and at the moment she is a guest lecturer at the Universität der Künste in Berlin. For 4 years, she was responsible for the literature page of the weekly magazine Freitag and writes reviews, critics and essays for newspapers and anthologies. Maxi Obexer is known for her political plays, audio plays and essays.

A main focus of her work are the conditions of migrants and refugees, e. g. in her play Geisterschiff (Ghostship) which deals with a refugee catastrophe in the Mediterranean sea. The play has been shown at several theaters, amongst others in Basel/Switzerland, Munich/Germany, Osnabruck/Germany, and Jena/Germany. Most recently, her book Wenn gefährliche Hunde lachen (When Dangerous Dogs Laugh) was published. It describes the difficult journey of a black american woman to Europe and the subsequent, equally difficult, odyssey through the process of applying for asylum in Germany.