Writer and filmmaker. In 2022, her first book Nöd us Zucker was published by Der gesunde Menschenversand (Lucerne) and received the Recognition Award of the Canton of Zurich in 2023; a paperback edition followed in 2025. The book has served as the basis for over 70 readings across German-speaking Switzerland and the Romandie. A sample translation into English (Tough Cookie, translated by Simon Pare) was supported by Pro Helvetia. From 2021 to 2022, Lidija Burčak wrote a monthly column for 041 Kulturmagazin (Lucerne). In 2025, she undertook a writing residency in Belgrade, Serbia, as part of the Pro Helvetia & Traduki Network. She is currently writing her first full-length play, titled Wurzelbehandlung, commissioned by Theater für Zeitgeister and premiering in February 2027 at the Kleintheater in Lucerne.

Alongside her literary work, she makes documentary films. Her graduation film Broken Skin (2019) was nominated for the Grierson Award. In 2023 and 2024, she directed documentary films for NZZ Format.


She also works as a dramaturg. In September 2024, she participated in the Cliniques Dramaturgiques, an exchange and mentoring programme for performing artists held in parallel with the Festival de la Bâtie in Geneva, supported by Pro Helvetia and the Flux Laboratory. Most recently, she collaborated on the production Comeback by Eugénie Rebetez (premiere at Théâtre Boulimie, Lausanne, April 2025). As a writing coach, she has worked with young people at Weichenwärterei (Basel).

Lidija Burčak studied social sciences in Zurich and Berlin and completed a Master’s degree in Visual Anthropology at Goldsmiths, University of London in 2019.

lidijaburcak@gmail.com