A dual horizon as a form of sensory, reality-saturated inquiry; as a way of walking the line between languages and cultural spaces, between everyday life on earth and the cosmos: Ernst Wichner, born in the Romanian town of Banat in 1952, for many years head of the Literaturhaus (House of Literature) in Berlin, has for four decades evoked the landscapes and voices of Southeast Europe in real and imaginary/poetic dialogues with other lyricists. In his latest work, Heute Mai, und morgen du (May today, you tomorrow), Heinrich Heine leaves a message on his answering machine. He also engages in dialogue with Oksar Pastior and Gellu Naum, whom he has translated into German.
Wichner has also rendered a poetry volume by Dana Ranga – the first one she published in Romanian in 2005 – in free-flowing German under the name STOP – Die Pausen des Sisyphos (STOP – Sisyphus’ Breaks; 2023). Ranga, born in Bucharest in 1964, studied medicine in Romania and then journalism, art history and film theory in Berlin. In COSMOS!, one of her earlier books of poetry, she undertakes a poetic journey into space, Her two prior works take her under the skin and under the surface of the sea. Her documentaries have won several awards.
Maren Jäger, born in Bottrop in 1977, guides the audience back and forth between these two lyrical worlds. Jäger is a literary scholar at FU Berlin, earned her professorship with a thesis on “Brevity between economy and esthetics” and also works as a critic and moderator.
Organized in cooperation with the Institute German Culture and Southeast European History at LMU in Munich; with the kind support of the Deutscher Literaturfonds (German Literature Fund) under the aegis of the Poetry Recommendations.
Tickets: 9 euros / 6 euros (discount rate). Lyrik Kabinett members receive free admission. For more information, please visit the Lyrik Kabinett website. The event will be held in German.
LMU and the Lyrik Kabinett have worked together very intensively for over 30 years. The more than 70,000 works subsumed under the Lyrik Kabinett Foundation are available via OPAC to everyone related to LMU. Numerous events provide a fascinating insight into the current poetic landscape.