education / bio
Katja Grcić is an artist currently based in Zagreb, Croatia. She writes poetry, prose, drama texts, reviews, essays and papers. She also works as a translator, theatre maker and heritage interpreter. She holds three MA degrees – in English Studies and Literature, German studies and Literature (University of Zadar) and Theatre Dramaturgy (Academy of Dramatic Arts, Zagreb). As a holder of Tempus scholarship, she attended the Centre for Translation Studies in Vienna, as well as the Südost programme at University of Graz.
Her debut poetry collection Nosive konstrukcije (Load-bearing Walls) was published in 2015 and was later followed by the bilingual collection Ljeto/Summer in 2017. In 2020 she published hybrid text Pisma Ziti (Letters to Zita). In 2020 her monodrama Proljeće naše zlovolje (The Spring of Our Discontent) was published in magazine Kazalište (Vol. XXIII No.81/82/83) and staged as a part of the Monovid-19 project at ZKM Theatre in Zagreb.
She has received various artistic grants, most notably the one by the Croatian Ministry of Culture and Media - in 2020 for her poetry collection "TRUTH on Sunday and Other Days" and in 2023 for her upcoming novel "The Potential of Hydrogen: ZERO". She has won several awards for drama, including the prestigious Marin Držić Prize twice, for Strah tijela od poda (How Body Fears Floor) in 2019 and for DRUGA ili Prema podacima (The Second or According to the Data) in 2022 . Her prose was shortlisted for the Sedmica Prize in 2017 and ISTINA nedjeljom i drugim danima (TRUTH on Sunday and Other Days) was shortlisted for Drago Gervais Prize in 2021. Her poetry has been published in international magazines like Pobocza (PL), Signaturen (DE), Perspektiven (AT), Lichtungen (AT) and presented at Frankfurt Book Fair (DE), Babelsprech conference (Slo), Poligon festival (BiH), Kalibar festival (Zadar), Mediteranski festival knjige (Split), Wood Poets festival (Istria) as well as international festivals like Polip (Kosovo) and Goran’s Spring (Croatia). She has extensive work experience in educational, cultural and civil sector.
Current artistic and scientific fields of interest: subversive aspects of fairy tales, textile in visual and performative arts, hybrid performative forms that combine contemporary dance and drama, value criticism, ecofeminism, performances in public space, political documentary and verbatim theatre, solidarity narratives in media and arts, spatial theories, liminal spaces.
portraits
corporal & creative
during primary & secondary education /
jazz dance, choir singing, acting
during higher education /
contemporary dance
workshops and courses with Sanja Petrovski, Iva Burčul, Irma Omerzo, Kilina Cremona, Marija Šćekić, Alexandra Madsen
acting classes
with theatre director Maja Šimić (Zadar) and dramaturge Ana Marija Fabjanić_Ane Paška (Split)
zen yoga
a decade of practice, first five years under the guidance of zen master Mirjana Halsey (Split)
photography /
course at Fotoakademija by Zoran Erceg (Split)
lighting design /
workshop with Dani Šesnić, prof. (ADU, Zagreb)
voice & body /
workshop with Gloria Lindeman (Split)
latest /
use of magnetite (Fe2+Fe3+2O4) in textile arts /
masterclass with artist Luna Acosta (Galerija Nova, Zagreb)
personalized second-hand clothes with QR codes/
workshop with artist Marija Mojca Pungerčar (Radiona, Zagreb)
psychology / insights
systemic constellations, Gestalt, cognitive-behavioural approach, integrative therapy, somatic experiencing, psychoanalysis, TRE
grants & awards
2023 literary grant by the Ministry of Culture and Media for the novel manuscript Potencijal hidrogena / NULA
2023 literary grant Imagine dignity by the Austrian Literature Society and BMEIA
2023 residency grant KAMOV in Rijeka, Croatia
2023 residency grant by TRADUKI in Bucharest, Romania
2023 residency grant "Vesna Parun" by Fotopoetika on the island of Zlarin, Croatia
2023 Marin Držić Prize for drama text DRUGA ili Prema podacima
2022 residency grant at House for Writers in Pazin, Istria
2022 script adaptation grant by Wolfgang & Dolly for Strah tijela od poda
2021 translation grant by drame.hr for Little Red Gretel
2021 Zora Dirnbach grant for scriptwriters by SPID
2021 poetry manuscript TRUTH on Sundays and Other Days shortlisted for Drago Gervais Prize
2021 Ulysses Shelter residency grant in Ljubljana, Slovenia
2020 translation grant by drame.hr for Strah tijela od poda
2020 literary grant by Croatian Ministry of Culture for poetry manuscript TRUTH on Sunday and other days
2019 Marin Držić Prize for drama Strah tijela od poda
2018 drama Molecules shortlisted for script adaptation grant by drame.hr
2017 prose shortlisted for Sedmica Prize by portal Kritična masa
languages
BKS native / English C2 / German C2 / Slovenian B2 / French B1 / Italian A1
work experience
teaching
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a decade in teaching foreign languages with special interest in methodological aspects of acting, role playing and word games as crucial elements in acquiring foreign language
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most challenging aspect in my teaching practice was teaching children with dyslexia and ADHD (five years of collaboration with the NGO Dyxy, Split)
translating / interpreting
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extensive experience in translating and interpreting for private clients, authors, institutions and NGOs (Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb, National Theaters in Split and Zagreb, World Literature Festival, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Split, The Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek, NGO KURS, publishing house Fraktura and many others)
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the most challenging and the most amusing experience: 36 working hours spent as an interpreter and assistant for the Schaubühne team (Volksfeind directed by Thomas Ostermeier – at Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, within World Theatre Festival 2019)
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the least challenging and not so amusing experience: chuchotage for the President of the Republic of Croatia, dr. Ivo Josipović, during his visit to “Writers in residence” programme in Split in 2012
cultural sector
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occasionally engaged as a coordinator and host of literary evenings, art festivals and public readings in Split (for NGO Kurs, NUS Festival, Festival of World Literature) and as a producer of dance collective Koribant Lab (Split)
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fifteen years of experience as a cultural heritage interpreter working at various UNSECO heritage sites, museums and galleries in Split-Dalmatia County
