Contemporary German Poetry

This selection of post World War II German poetry features the work of Hans Arp, Bertolt Brecht, Günter Grass, Wilhelm Lehmann, Gottfried Benn, Yvan Goll, Nelly Sachs, Peter Huchel, Günter Eich, Christine Lavant, Johannes Bobrowski, Paul Celan, Helmut Heissenbüttel, Eernst Jandl, Ingeborg Bachmann, Hans Magnus Enzenberger, and Günter Kunert. The poems were all originally published between 1945 and 1967, and are here reprinted in German.

Assembled by the noted scholar and translator Jethro Bithell, this anthology showcases the richness and diversity of German poetry in the early 20th century, featuring works by Rilke, Hofmannsthal, George, and many others. Bithell's informative introductions and meticulous translations make this an essential volume for anyone interested in modern German literature and culture. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Mouth to Mouth had its origins in the Translation Workshop held at the Berlin Poesiefestival in June 2003, when ten German-speaking poets and ten Australian poets met over three days to translate each other's poems. The selection has been expanded to include the work of fifteen poets from Germany, Switzerland and Austria, Thomas Kling, Kathrin Schmidt, Peter Waterhouse, Kerstin Hensel, Ulf Stolterfoht, Joachim Sartorius, Ursula Krechel, Marcel Beyer, Ulrike Draesner, Nico Bleutge, Sabine Scho, Raphael Urweider, Sabine Naef, Uwe Kolbe and Anja Utler. The translators are Australian poets Luke Davies, Dorothy Porter, Robert Gray, Judith Beveridge, Anthony Lawrence, Gig Ryan, Antigone Kefala, Samuel Wagan Watson, Joanne Burns and Peter Skrzynecki, as well as the European poet-translators Michael Hofmann, Andrew Duncan, Richard Dove, Andrew Shields and Tony Frazer. The fact that the translators are themselves poets of distinction ensures that Mouth to Mouth can be read as a testament, both to the vitality of the poetry being written in German today, and to the art of poetic translation.