GIRL, SHOW ME THAT BODY (OF WORK): FLINTA* LITERATURE NIGHT #7

How does literature help authors and readers imagine new narratives of self-realization? What are the benefits—but also the risks—of coming out, and what old barriers and new challenges arise in the process? What happens when people cross boundaries and demand the freedom to shape a new future?

With Joanna Kusiak, Masha Sapizhak, Asta Tall, and Vanessa Gunesch. Moderated by Cemre Nur Öztürk.

Languages: German and English

GIRL, SHOW ME THAT BODY (OF WORK) is a project by FLINTA*Literatur, Berlin’s platform for female artists with backgrounds in migration and exile, in collaboration with Lettrétage, funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion.

• Contact: kontakt@flintaliteratur.de

Vanessa Badescu (Vanessa Gunesch) is a Romanian-German author and filmmaker. Her films are screened at national and international festivals and are available on streaming platforms. In her work, she explores the connections between capitalism, migration, and the female body within sociopolitical spaces of control and desire.

Joanna Kusiak writes poetry and creative nonfiction while also working as a social scientist at the University of Cambridge. Her book *Radically Legal: Berlin Constitutes the Future* emerged as she recounted the story of her research—on the housing crisis in Berlin—through her poetic voice. It was awarded the $100,000 Nine Dots Prize for its unconventional approach to examining and describing contemporary social challenges. She is currently working on her first poetry collection.

Masha Sapizhak is a theater maker, performance artist, and theater educator. In her artistic work, Masha explores forms of resistance, solidarity, and self-empowerment from a feminist perspective. She works across disciplines and incorporates methods from drama and documentary theater, contemporary dance, digital media, performative approaches, participatory practices, and gamification into her projects, while also using humor as a powerful tool. In Germany, she has collaborated with, among others, the English Theater Berlin, the Gorki Theater, Theater Strahl, Hellerau, the Ballhaus Prinzenallee, and the Theater an der Parkaue.

Asta Tall is a Senegalese-American poet currently living in Berlin. In her work, she explores themes such as patriarchy, femininity, and cultural heritage. She adopts a personal perspective, linking subjective experiences or observations to broader themes. As a result, her work exudes an authentic and intimate appeal that is particularly evident in her performances.