Claudia Klingenschmid was born and raised in Tyrol, Austria. She won the Austrian Youth Photography award at the age of 14 and started experimenting with different artforms. She graduated in Neuropsychology from the University of Innsbruck in 2008 and holds a degree in Theater Studies and German Literature from Ludwig Maximilians University Munich. In Bavaria, she worked as a Hospital clown and developed her love for the art of performance. In the following years, she lived in Durham/North Carolina, Venice/Italy, and Graz/Austria. Since 2020, she set up home in beautiful Heidelberg, Germany's only UNESCO City of Literature. In her writing, she is interested in the transgression of gender roles, procrastination, and the human mind interacting with nature, parasites, fungi, slime and water.

Her first novel »Parasit ToGo« was published by Piper and invited to readings at O-Töne Museumsquartier Wien, Literaturhaus Graz and Lesefest Neue Texte Graz.

Prizes and Scholarships

• RCB European Literature Prize for the short story »Gemüse für die Ewigkeit«, 2016
• Writer in Residence, AIR Litteratur Västra Götaland, 2022
• Arbeitsstipendium Literatur, Österreichisches Bundesministerium für Kunst und Kultur, 2022