Monika Rinck lives in Berlin Moabit and more recently in Cologne, where she teaches Literary Writing at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne (KHM). She studied Religious Studies, Comparative Literature and German Studies at the Ruhr University Bochum, at the Free University Berlin and at Yale University New Haven.

Since 1998 various publications in many publishing houses, such as NEUES VON DER PHASENFRONT in bbooks Verlag in 1998, or BEGRIFFSSTUDIO 1996-2001 in edition sutstein. In spring 2012, the poetry collection HONIGPROTOKOLLE was published by kookbooks, for which she received the Huchel Prize. In spring 2015 followed: RISIKO & IDIOTIE, Streitschriften, kookbooks. In 2019: ALLE TUEREN, poems, with the same publisher. And: CHAMPAGNER FÜR DIE PFERDE, published by S. Fischer, as well as the poetics lectures WIRKSAME FIKTIONEN, published by Wallstein, and HEIDA HEIDA HO - in the series Zwiesprachen, published by Wunderhorn. Her latest poetry book is „HOELLENFAHRT & ENTENSTAAT“, kookbooks 2024. In 2015 she gave the Münster Poetics Lectures, in 2019 the Lichtenberg Poetics Lecture in Goettingen, in 2020 the Frankfurt Poetics Lectures, and in 2024 the Zurich Poetics Lectures. 

In 2015 Monika Rinck received the Kleist Prize, in 2017 the Ernst Jandl Prize, in 2019 the Roswitha Prize, in 2022 the Hoelderlin Prize. She translates, collaborates with musicians and composers, and has been teaching three years as a Professor at the Institute for Language Arts at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, before she came to Cologne in 2023 as professor for Literary Writing.