Dirk Laucke

Dirk Laucke was born in 1982 and grew up in Halle (Saale). In 2002, Laucke started a degree in psychology at Leipzig, but moved to Berlin in 2004 to study creative writing for the stage there at the University of the Arts. That same year, he was invited to the Salzburg Festival by Tankred Dorst to take part in a event showcasing talented young dramatists, where he read from his play Symptom.
Subsequently, in 2005, he was commissioned jointly with his fellow students Reyna Bruns and Magdalena Grazewicz to create the play Hier geblieben (Stay Here) at the Grips Theater, Berlin, a piece about child refugees' right to remain in Germany.
In 2006, Dirk Laucke received the Kleist Prize for Young Dramatists for his play alter ford escort dunkelblau (old ford escort dark blue) , with which he was invited to the Mülheim Theatertage for the first time in 2007.

Awards, honours:

• 2006 Kleist Prize for Young Dramatists
• 2007 Invitation to the Mülheim Theatertage
• 2007: Best young dramatist of the year in the Theater Heute yearbook critics survey
• 2009: Lessing Prize Scholarship Award of the Free State of Saxony
• 2010: Dramatists’ Prize of the Cultural Committee of German Business within the Federation of German Industries
• 2010: Invitation to the Mülheim Theatertage