one of last year's poems reworked

wir haben ein sternbild gesehen:

da endet die welt und die faust die

die kabel an die unser leben gerät

hält ist männlich . man war

fünfmarkstückgroß in eine wand

genagt für ratten die leitung

um leitung gekannt hatten abfall

als kunst in die sphären gehoben .

weit hinten verriet uns ein unruhiges

mädchen geheimnisse über das irdischsein .

[rough translation:

we'd seen a constellation:
there ends the world and the fist
that's been holding the cables that 
sustain our lives has been male . 
one was a hole chewed into some wall
five deutschmarks wide for rats
who knew the wires praised all 
rubbish into highest spheres .
at the very back an anxious girl
gave away secrets on being terrestrial .]

(picture taken from postsecret.)

two readings, one review, and my big mouth

this week, i went to two readings: alistair's and peter's, and the one alexander gumz organised for the launch of his and moritz schramm's ny tysk poesi anthology (arena verlag, kopenhagen, 2009). both were good events and sold out deservedly so.

dialogue berlin provided a great venue, and its owner sharmaine was a great hostess - i'm sure we'll be hearing much more about her events and initiatives soon. i always enjoy literary events in english, as the authors and audience tend to not take themselves as seriously as most germans: a little more fun, a little less intellectual masturbation... which takes me right to the reading on wednesday:

like i said before, the line-up was impressive - and its proximity to KOOKbooks undeniable. one gets the impression that alexander gumz has a couple of people on his speed dial that he rings up whenever reading slots need to be filled. while this is understandable, i would have loved to hear people like raphael urweider or nico bleutge read for a change, poets that are also featured in the anthology, but that you don't hear of as much.

highlights of the reading included:

"oh, danke, nacht, geh heim nach finnland"  ["oh, thank you, night, go home to finland"] - steffen popp
"dein kanarienvogel sah heute so seltsam aus" ["your canary looked somewhat strange today"] - daniel falb
"schön wäre ein regen nach oben" ["i'd like an upward rain"] - ron winkler

free poetry reading in hamburg tomorrow

tom schulz, gerald fiebig, richard duraj, and jinn pogy will be reading to celebrate the brand new edition of randnummer magazine tomorrow:

sat, 27 march, 8 pm, POW galerie, haubachstr. 7a, hamburg - free of charge!

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY, WOAW!

WORDS ON A WATCH turns three today, and for me that means party introspection: how has the internet changed the way we writers work? as this is quite a complicated question, i'm glad sibylle berg has already answered it generally here, so i'll be ok to just speak for myself:

to me, the internet is

...a space to express myself in a myriad of ways, to get active and launch projects like the #50bookschallenge or girls can blog
...my very own trade fair - networking through facebook and twitter has never been easier than today. i've just started sorting the people i follow into lists, perhaps they're of use to you, too? 
...my mobile notebook-anthology-brain-hard drive-event calendar-desk-gallery. to me, the web is a very visual place that i like to hang out in
...a motivator to get things done. as is my readership. i think that if your number hadn't gone up steadily over time, i would have given up long ago
...an ideal place for feedback. both incoming (examples here, here, and there) and outgoing (like here by myself and here by guest commentator oliver bottini). i love feedback and guest articles, so please keep them coming!
...an ideal place for announcements, too, like here and here.*

basically, WOAW is still a personal poetry blog, thick with opinion. if you're here for my poems only and never know where to look for them, click here and save that link. the newest poem will always come first. watch out, though, not all of them are ready for press just yet; from time to time i put up stuff just because i was so glad i had written anything at all. my writing periods are usually intense, as is my current writer's block. i don't have control over either.

i was going to go into last year's WOAW birthday speech a little more, but when i just read it, it sounded awfully negative. i think i was in a pretty bad place then and am very glad that i could move on from there in the second half of 2009. i went on said literary journey to zagreb, spoke to an agent (only to find out my novella was too short for publication still), and got published in important media like lyrikmail. i wonder what 2010 has up its sleeve...

thanks in any case for sticking around!
annina

*it seems like i forgot to annouce that i got published in the current edition of [sic] magazine? oops!

it's reading week

besides the poetry reading on wednesday i recommended yesterday, there's also sibylle lewitscharoff discussing adolph freiherr knigge's work in charlottenburg:  

wed, 24 march 2010, 8 pm, literaturhaus berlin - großer saal

more info at the literaturhaus berlin.

and for everyone who doesn't feel like going to alistair noon's poetry reading on thursday, try fadi saad in berlin - wedding. his reading will take place at the medienhof, a project i freelance with, and it was organised by the kids we teach; the cover charge is only 1 €, and money is generally appreciated there as funding is hard to find even for established organisations like this one. (more info on fadi's book at herder verlag. photo by rebecca @ DIE FREIE LANZE.)

thu, 25 march 2010, 6 pm, medienhof wedding, prinzenallee 25/ 26, 3. hof

THE poetry reading this week

the poetry event this week (besides peter riley's and alistair noon's reading on thursday) will be taking place on

wed, 24 march 2010, 7.30 pm, methfesselstr. 23-25, 10965 berlin - kreuzberg, ca. 5€

ann cotten, daniel falb, steffen popp, monika rinck, and ron winkler will be reading from their work to celebrate the launch of a bi-lingual danish anthology of german contemporary poetry: Ny tysk poesi - 13 tyske lyrikere, alexander gumz & moritz schramm (hrsg.), arena verlag, kopenhagen 2009.

(picture taken from postsecret.)

siri hustvedt tv documentary

tomorrow, 21 march 2010, arte will be airing a siri hustvedt documentary at 5 pm. more info and rerun times here. (via bluetenleser)

recent work by michael donhauser [WOAW exclusive!]

as a reaction to my post on the lyrikerempfang at berlin's red city hall, michael donhauser was not only nice enough to get in touch and thank me for my words, but in fact he sent me the prose-poems he read that night! i am overjoyed to be able to present to you my favourite one - they aren't available anywhere else on the web, so guess how honoured i feel?

if you like the one below, read another poem by michael donhauser called "Dich noch und" at urs engeler editor.
(photo by ute schendel)

Anfänglich erst neigten sich die Rosen, da die Dahlien standen, sich entblätterten die Zweige, dass in Farben stieg, was sommerlich spät war und warm noch ein Weichen, als wäre, da zogen wie Vögel die Schatten, ein Wiegen das Bleiben und leise im Laub, wenn es sank, wenn sich füllten mit Röte, gelblich die Birnen wie Äpfel oder lagen im Gras, gärend unter der gelichteten Krone, da ein Wind hob nicht und brach kaum und einzeln nur wanken liess und lose eine Ranke, eine Wicke am rostenden Zaun. 

(copyright by michael donhauser)

rené hamann poetry reading: the highlights

"entmüdungsbecken"  [de-tiredation pool]
"subroutine"  [sub-routine]
"der anschlagende blick"  [the assaulting look]
"stadtkrank und faul"  [citysick, bum]

tonight: rené hamann poetry reading

rené hamann, one of my favorite berlin poets, will be reading from his recent poetry collection "Berge und Täler, davon Männer und Frauen" tonight. i'll be there, hoping he won't mind i stole this picture from facebook.... who owns the photo credits, rené?

monarch, skalitzer str. 134, 10999 berlin - kreuzberg, 8.15 pm

short notice: gerald stern poetry reading tonight!

famous american poet gerald stern and his translator thomas pletzinger will be reading from stern's new poetry collection Alles brennt tonight.

adler & söhne - supernova, stargarderstr. 24, berlin - prenzlauer berg, 8 pm

poetry and politics: nigeria

my friend okey uzoechina from nigeria wrote a poem dedicated to the innocent victims of the recent ethno-religious crises in the country: "November 2009, January 2010, March 2010, and the ones yet to come". 

i am publishing it not because okey and i went to uni together, but because his poem is inspired by lacks of effective state politics and their resulting in death and destruction. i am not even going to get started on inter-religious dialogue here - it's just all so sad!

i am ashamed to admit that up to today i was completely unaware of nigerian poetry and that the great majority of it seems to be inspired by politics. award winners remi raji (who writes in english) and wole soyinka (first african winner of the nobel prize in literature in 1986, editor of the praised anthology Poems of Black Africa) seem to be good further references if you're interested.

in any case, i'd like to thank okey for choosing poetry as one of his ways of working against violence. 

THE CROSS & THE CRESCENT

Sacred sires of two great nations
Hostile brothers of long consanguine connexion
Turned uneasy neighbours by sinister suspicion
Tell me, will their wars of vengeance ever cease?

Each takes a different direction
In its quest for the soul’s salvation
Yet both declare for the same destination
Tell me, which will enter the Pearly Gates?

They preach peace and love to all creation
And give opium-soaked minds camouflage consolation
As crimes and wars increase by multiplication
Tell me, wherein lies such gross hypocrisy?

When they partake in political communion
They cross swords with fanatical aggression
Like fiery fiends stirred to destruction
Tell me, does atrocity justify a crown of conquest?

They attract mammoth congregations
With cosy creeds of true redemption
But which will serve the divine intention—

The Cross or the Crescent?

martin suter tries a whole new position

via a friend i got a ticket for yesterday night's martin suter book premiere of Der Koch at the sold-out babylon cinema in berlin mitte. all i knew about martin was that one of his kids choked on a bite of sausage and that he was swiss. the woman next to me said his best book was Die dunkle Seite des Mondes (indeed a reference to pink floyd's dark side of the moon), in which some yuppie guy starts eating magic mushrooms. because there were so many people at the reading, the host asked the audience to abstain from making martin write too long a dedication at the book-signing afterwards. wow. and because of bad lighting, it took martin a while to figure out how best to hold his book in order to see properly and not blind the audience with his reading lamp. "hang on", he said, "i'm going to try a whole new position". i might be mistaken here, but i think that was his best sentence of the night. runner-ups from his novel: "her good looks not only helped her find a job, they also gave her a hard time keeping it." and "[there they sat,] all with their tall, thin, blond second wives." ha.

the novel itself still came across as an erotic cookbook, though, sprinkled with some flakes of international politics. and while i liked how wide parts of it were open-minded and well-written, and also the fact that martin read with a thick swiss accent that reminded me of home, i couldn't refrain from leaving the hall halfway through. oops.

facebook knows which german publishing houses we love

leander wattig of was mit büchern ranked the german publishing houses who have fan pages on facebook by the number of their fans:

winner (1200 fans as of 7 march 2010): Residenz Verlag
loser (3 fans as of 7 march 2010): W. Bertelsmann Verlag

another event: annika reich prose reading

annika reich is a friend of mine's cousin who has just published her second book, Durch den Wind, with Hanser. her first one is called Teflon and was published with Suhrkamp. i haven't read either, of course, as i barely read anything, really (as it is, i am behind on my own 50 books challenge!), but i suppose that my friend would not trick me into recommending something bad. so, if you're free that night, try annika on

thu, 11 march 2010, 8 pm, roter salon/ volksbühne, berlin - prenzlauer berg, 6€
(photo source: private)

poetry reading: peter riley and alistair noon

according to alistair noon's event description, ...

Peter Riley is widely regarded as one of the most important British poets writing today. Born in 1940 near Manchester, he has published books of poetry with, among others, Carcanet and Shearsman, most recently Greek Passages (Shearsman, 2009). His work has been described as “an extraordinary poetry, one which takes the techniques of modernism to almost a certain limit, yet retains the entire lyric and emotional intensity of the English tradition” (Mark Scroggins). As well as poetry, he has written studies of improvised music, lead mines, burial mounds and Transylvanian string bands.

alistair himself will be reading as well, namely ...

from his latest chapbook, In People’s Park, as well as from forthcoming publications. Founder of Poetry Hearings, Berlin’s annual English-language poetry festival, he has played an active role in the Anglophone literary scene of the city over the last few years. “I don't know any poet who flies about so carefreely, never alighting in the pigeonhole for long enough to become ringed” (Giles Goodland).

thu, 25 march 2010, 7 pm, the t room, christinenstr. 27, berlin - prenzlauer berg,  5€
please RSVP to events (at) dialogueberlin.com

girls can blog!

after thinking about the girls on the web issue a little harder, i decided to initiate GIRLS CAN BLOG, a whole blog dedicated to female activity online. actually, i wonder why i hadn't come up with the idea earlier on - as some of you might know, i wrote my M.A. thesis on 'cyberactivism and the female-led anti-war movement' back in 2008 already, and should have known that this here was an issue. better late than never, though! (please keep in mind that i've only just started - there will be much more to see for you in the coming weeks...)

heute neu: lyrikkritik-radio

heute, 02.03.10, 22.00 uhr, über lyrikkritik.de:
Gespräch mit dem Lyriker Steffen Popp über die lange Kunst der Vorbereitung – Gedanken zu den Zielen von Yoga und Lyrik

Programmvorschau:
09.03.10, 22.00 uhr, – Christian Filips über Paolo Pasolini und die Kunst des Mittelhochdeutschen in neuzeitlichen Übersetzungen

16.03.10, 22.00 uhr–Rosemarie Tietze über die Neuübersetzung von Anna Karenina und Lew Tolstojs Beziehung zu Gedichten
(text via lyrikkritik.de)

girls on the web: who are the must-reads?

(picture source)

via nadine lantzsch's thoughts on the matter, i stumbled across kontextschmiede's contribution to the current debate on the amount of actual influence female bloggers are exerting on today's society. i would like to seize the opportunity and raise awareness of the fact that the majority of bloggers featured on the blog charts (both german and international) have been male - just like most managers in most organizations. thus, in order to promote your favorite female bloggers, please feel free to add their link to this post's comment section - i'd love to host an international collection. should you need some inspiration, try blogtrepeneur's list of 100 must read blogs by women for a start.

i got hegemann-ed!

stephan reich, a reader of this blog, remixed a poem of mine:

und wenn ich dich nie

wieder sehe nie finde

ich frieden seither ich

dich misse was macht das

noch dass ich dich aus

diesem bett nicht

heraus & vergessen kann

nachts wenn am bahn

steig der wind &

dein haar mir den schlaf

nimmt wo einmal etwas

war keine hand so warm wie

im schnee deine an gleisen

zurück bis zu dir steht´s in

spuren im frost hast du mich

bereisen & wegweisen

können was tut´s das du

fehlst & die bahn dann

dein bild in der scheibe

manchmal keine hand

breit mehr weiter der

menschen leergelebte

gesichter die finger in hosen

taschen geborgen ich

erinnerte dich & stehe &

gehe alleine was macht

wohl die eine was macht das

jetzt noch?

i feel very flattered. thanks, stephan!

"das studio ist gegen das radio"

yesterday, as part of her reading at the hinterzimmer, sabine scho played her cool radio piece "grober rundfunk" (scroll down to download mp3). it was created for an interesting series called Literatur als Radiokunst produced by the ORF and curated by christiane zintzen.

i love austria for its willingness to experiment with text - the audience (and thus the industry) over there seems much more willing to accept progressive, unconventional ideas. there also seems to be allocated more aid money to literary projects than here. germany still has a long way to go in that respect!

more events: sabine scho and 'speak easy'

* don't forget today's sabine scho reading at the hinterzimmer at 4 pm

* next monthly 'speak easy' reading circle @ st. george's bookshop

KOOKREAD special: ann cotten, monika rinck & co.

please find below the original event description, shortened and garnished with a couple of links - i wouldn't want to promise too much, but this constellation of authors could make for an interesting evening:

thu, 4 march 2010, 8 pm

Ein Roman trifft auf sein Blog. Ulrich Schlotmann liest aus "Die Freuden
der Jagd" und spricht darüber mit Ann Cotten, Benedikt Ledebur, Monika Rinck und Ulf
Stolterfoht. (...) Danach gibt es Raum für Getränke und Gespräche.

(...) Auf der Flucht vor einer immer komplexer, immer unverständlicher werdenden
Welt begibt sich ein Mann in den Wald. Aber sein Weg zu dessen finsterem
Herzen, wo er mit sich und der Welt in Einklang zu leben hofft, entwickelt
sich in Ulrich Schlotmanns Roman "Die Freuden der Jagd" bald zum Trip in
die Abgründe der menschlichen Seele. (...)

Kvartira No. 62
Lübbener Str. 18
10997 Berlin

Eintritt: 3,- EUR

last year's winners: der lyrikerempfang 2009 im roten rathaus zu berlin

last night i attended an event called lyrikpreisträger 2009 in berlin's red town hall. the event was organized by the berlin literaturwerkstatt and, lucky you, i took a bunch of notes there. they might explain why i left halfway through.

1000 Preise für Prosa, 6 für Lyrik

thomas wohlfahrt, the head of the berlin literaturwerkstatt, claimed there are only awarded six prizes for poetry in germany every year. i am not sure exactly why only six, as prizes like the bi-annual dresdner lyrikpreis or the annual clemens-brentano-preis obviously didn't make it onto his list (Open Mike, Georg-Trakl-Preis, Peter-Huchel-Preis, Poesiepreis des Kulturkreises der deutschen Wirtschaft, Leonce-und-Lena-Preis, Ernst-Jandl-Preis).

lyrik braucht einen anders gearteten medialen auftritt (stimme?) "lyrik hat ihre sozialen orte verloren"
monika rink was quoted: "schluss mit den grabreden auf die lyrik!"

now, this is interesting. i wonder why nobody thought of the internet as an outlet for poetry. but it really is not just the web; i found this very interesting article on the maths of poetry the other day. david alpaugh claims that all in all, "approximately 86 million poems will be published in the 21st century" - now that's something, no?

then konstantin ames, the winner of 2009's open mike and a graduate of the dubious poetry hit factory of the deutsche literaturinstitut leipzig, read a couple of not-so-great lines like "sieht (...) noch nicht das loch im kopf stein pflaster" and used a couple of the obligatory words in contemporary german literature: "pisse, kot, nackt, urin, bang" sigh.

next was barbara köhler who must have tricked someone into thinking she can write impressed the experts very much. in the 1980s, she, too, had studied at the DLL. her first words on stage were "der text, den ich lese, ist nicht 'mal lyrik" and they were a huge turn-off. she started reading some incoherent words prose and in the light of the current debate on plagiarism here in germany, i was bothered by her book's title "niemands frau" which i previously knew both as a song by anouk of 1997 and a manuscript by jack kerouac's second wife, joan kerouac. also, barbara's delivery looked and sounded a lot like bas böttcher's (only much staler) and that didn't go down well with me, either. her best words were interferenz, wellen, löschen (two of the three previously known from, for example, hendrik jackson's perfect (!) poem rauschen). and for all that confusion brilliance the kulturkreis der deutschen wirtschaft awarded her 10.000 euros. wow.

finally, michael donhauser from switzerland, the winner of the georg trakl prize, read. i was relieved: he was by far the best poet, dressed much better than the previous two, and read much more clearly. i didn't mind him talking about fruit trees, nor his sparkling necklace, and i liked his rather corny choice of words: nacht, traum, verglimmen, tränen he read great, grown-up poetry that evaded kitsch yet still produced some credible emotion.

after donhauser everybody was thirsty and bored, and there should have been a break, but instead some musician continued right on. so when ferdinand schmatz, the winner of the ernst jandl prize, finished reading, i left. he had started off well, a little more experimental than donhauser, but seemed to lose track in the middle of his first poem somewhere: schall, nesseln, näselnde asseln - stampft her ins gestiefelte ... i just stampfed home.

thomas lang reading in charlottenburg

i was originally going to attend alexander gumz' poetry reading this coming thursday, when it was brought to my attention that thomas lang will be reading from his new novel 'bodenlos' in charlottenburg at the same time. back when it was published, DIE ZEIT praised 'bodenlos' for lang's prose, which is why i'd like to go and have a listen. come as well, if you can!

details: 25.02., 8.30 pm, buchhändlerkeller, carmerstr. 1, 10623 berlin

the longest german words

dirk ploss knows 'em. his source: Der Duden.

(picture taken from postsecret.)

diagram prize for the oddest book title of the year: the shortlist

the bookseller has the shortlist here. you may vote for your favorite until 26 march. in comparison to the shortlist of 2007, though, this year's is really not all that funny.

find all winners since 1978 on wikipedia. my favorites include "highlights in the history of concrete" (1994) and "if you want closure in your relationship, start with your legs" (2007).

garnitur

drohsessel neben dem hausofa vor einem
autschtisch . hast füße aufs plättchen
getreten da liegen sie nun . ich sag erstens
wie leid es mir tut oder nicht dass
zweitens das alles hier ist .
diese anordnung um eine angst .
in der schale die kekse unknusprig
der vorwurfshang offen . die aussichten
draussen sind ewig und ewiger noch
ist das polsternste samt . den nacken
im wutkissen dreh ich den hallenden rest
des alarms zwischen uns in der hand

reading: alexander gumz, ulrike draesner and aleš šteger

25.02.10, 20.00 uhr @ Kvartira No. 62, Lübbener Str. 1, 10997 Berlin.

more info here.

diagram prize for the oddest book title of the year

in four days, the bookseller magazine will release the short list for its annual prize for the oddest book title of the year. until then, check out the long list (scroll down to skip the article) published by the guardian earlier this month.

"Willkommen in Absurdistan: Hegemann für Leipzig nominiert" - Ein Kommentar von Oliver Bottini

Über Qualität kann und soll man streiten. Manche mögen Helene Hegemanns "Axolotl Roadkill" für großartig und literarisch halten, manchen rollen sich bei der Lektüre die Zehennägel hoch. Das ist in Ordnung, denn was gefällt, ist subjektiv – selbst wenn die, denen es gefällt, beeindruckende literarische Geschütze ins Feld fahren, um die behauptete Qualität zu objektivieren (was naturgemäß nicht gelingt).

Über Plagiate dagegen kann und soll man nicht streiten. Seit Tagen weiß man, dass Hegemann sowohl wörtlich bei anderen Autoren abgeschrieben als auch fremde Ideen ungefragt verwendet hat. Wie kann eine exquisit besetzte Jury einen Roman für einen wichtigen Literaturpreis nominieren, wenn ihr bekannt ist, dass die Autorin Urheberrechte verletzt und bei anderen, erst nachträglich benannten Autoren abgekupfert hat?

Dass der Roman vor den Plagiatsvorwürfen auf die Shortlist für den Preis der Leipziger Buchmesse gekommen ist – nun gut, das muss man nicht verstehen, aber akzeptieren (s.o.). Die Veröffentlichung der Shortlist jedoch fand am gestrigen Donnerstag (11.2.) statt, als die Plagiate längst nachgewiesen waren. Trotzdem hat die Jury den Roman nicht von der Liste gestrichen, und das ist dreist und skandalös. Man mag seinen Ohren und Augen kaum trauen: Die Jury-Vorsitzende Verena Auffermann rechtfertigte die Entscheidung am Donnerstag gegenüber der dpa damit, dass "'diese junge Frau [...] unserer Auffassung nach extrem begabt'" sei und Hegemanns Verlag bestätigt habe, "dass im Urheberrechtsstreit 'alles einen ordentlichen Weg geht'". (SPIEGEL) Juristisch betrachtet mag das stimmen, falls tatsächlich alle Genehmigungen nun eingeholt und die Urheber adäquat bezahlt werden. Literarisch betrachtet ist diese Aussage ein Armutszeugnis, schließlich lässt sich angesichts der Arbeitsweise der "begabten Autorin" schwerlich nachvollziehen, welche Sätze, Wörter, Figuren, Plots originär ihrer Fantasie entstammen und welche der Fantasie anderer.

Die Jury-Entscheidung bringt den Preise der Leipziger Buchmesse in Verruf, die Jury sowieso, dazu einen Gutteil der Buchbranche mit Verlagen, Agenten und Feuilletonisten – allerorten hört und liest man verschwurbelte Rechtfertigungen, Ausreden, Beschwichtigungen. Plagiat? Ach, alles halb so wild. Und man beginnt im Elfenbeinturm, sich über die Aufregung zu amüsieren – der Skandal als "lustige Abschreib-Affäre" (DIE ZEIT), Hegemann auf einem "lobenswert unordentlichen Pfad" (SPIEGEL).

Ja, habt ihr sie noch alle?

Oliver Bottini

"i'd like to thank my parents and the internet"

helene hegemann is a german seventeen-year-old who has put together written a book on sex and drugs that has a very weird title. given these three factors and a decent marketing campaign, it doesn't come as a surprise that the book became a bestseller within weeks of publication. when a blogger from munich discovered, however, that wide parts of her book were copied from another blogger from berlin, the scandal was perfect. if it was a scandal at all, of course, and not just another ole marketing trick.

i wasn't originally going to comment on her work (i'm still not intending to read it), but after coming across helene's meddlesome apology where she says that she's habitually stealing inspiration from anyone, and that that was how the youth after the year 2000 operated, i would like to take the opportunity and disagree with her: just because you move about in cyberspace at your peer group's own liking, you're not allowed to randomly incorporate into your work whatever it is you might take a fancy to along the way. certainly not without indication of source, anyway.

building your reputation on other people's ideas (the final letter in helene's book appears to be a translation of the lyrics to a song called fuck you by archive) is not ok at all. but how could a teenager have known better? well, at least the feature writers who have praised her literary talent (DIE ZEIT, FAZ, ...) should have. bad enough that her publishing house practically denies responsibility concerning helene's plagiarism, stating that 'the author hasn't elaborated on sources used and by that underestimated the consequences of her decision to use citations from the net' (source) - as if contracting teenagers to sell them out aid their career automatically made the kids themselves responsible for surviving on the literary market.

as much as i hope for helene that she will understand her mistakes and will start to value other people's artistic work in a decent manner, i hope that she will leave the shark tank of the literary business as self confident as she dived into it. and as for sukultur, the publishing house that published the book where helene helped herself, and airen, its author, i hope they will collect adequate compensation. (press release regarding the matter on sukultur's homepage.)


UPDATE + + check out my friend katy's blog, too, she has a different opinion! + + UPDATE

"a poet can survive everything but a misprint."

oscar wilde via peakepoetics.

someone at st. george's (berlin) had a really good idea:

'SPEAK EASY' - A MONTHLY READ-AROUND AT ST. GEORGE'S BOOKSHOP

Following a 2008 event to commemorate the work of David Foster Wallace,
where people read excerpts of his writings, St George's Bookshop has
organised a series of monthly readings. The idea is simple.

If you've ever read a piece of writing (non-fiction, fiction, essay, prose,
poetry, dialogue, monologue, whatever) that you've admired and which you'd
like to share, then this is the event for you.

Anyone can read an extract (of up to 3 pages), in any format, in any
language, on any topic, perhaps with a brief explanation of what this author
or piece of writing means to you. If you're not sure about reading something
yourself, you can ask someone else to do it for you. There'll probably be a
microphone, and the event should be as drone-free as possible. If you want
to read, just come along at eight with your book, and we'll take it from
there.

To give you an idea, MC Jabber will kick off the first event with two short
dialogues, from David Foster Wallace's 'The Broom of the System' and
Jonathan Safran Foer's 'Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close'.


Wednesday 10th February
Start: 20.30 // Admission: FREE (Children: half price)
// Drinks: 1.50euro

St. George's English Bookshop
Woerther Str. 27
10405 Berlin
030 81798333

U2 Senefelderplatz
M2 tram (Prenzlauer Allee/Marienburger Strasse)

literary tattoos

a whole blog devoted to them! how awesome is that?

HAM.LIT event details

here. or here for that matter.

currently reading as part of the #50bookschallenge: 'slaughterhouse five' by kurt vonnegut

(picture taken from postsecret.)

events at st. george's bookshop (berlin) this week

again, i just copied and pasted:

------------------
TUESDAY 19TH JAN. 2010 - 21.00

FELICITAS EHLEN: DRAMATIC RECITATION OF POEMS BY EDGAR ALLEN POE

Bass & Cello accompaniement, interspersed with brief German-language
biographical notes (penned by Felicitas, read by a German dolcent
- a 90-minute, total immersion in the evocatoin of Poe's spirit.

At 21:00 on January 19, the 201st anniversary of Poe's Boston birth.

The dramatic classics, The Raven and more...

Free entrance, Cash bar

------------------------------ -------------------
WEDNESDAY 20TH JAN. 2010 - 20.30

ALISTAIR NOON & MONIKA RINCK Double Book Launch

Alistair Noon. In People's Park. Penumbra Editions, London. http://www.penumbramagazine.co.uk/

Monika Rinck. Sixteen Poems. Translated by Alistair Noon. Barque Press,
London. http://www.barquepress.com/16poems.html

Alistair Noon has lived in Berlin since the early nineties and has been a
key figure in the Anglophone literary scene in the city for several years,
co-editing the magazine Bordercrossing Berlin and founding the annual Poetry
Hearings festival. His second chapbook In People's Park is launched together
with the first appearance in book form in English of Monika Rinck, a poet
with a steadily growing reputation as quite possibly the best German poet of
her generation, with several books of poetry and essays from acclaimed
German publishers kookbooks.

"Alistair Noon's writing is characterised by a worldly intelligence,
striking verbal dexterity and a technical accomplishment by no means common
in today's poetry world. He is a writer to keep a eye on over the next few
years."

Peter Hughes, Oystercatcher Press

"Monika Rinck is to my mind the most interesting of the younger poets to
turn up after the millennium. A post-modernist, playful and artful at the
same time, her work settles down in her third collection into a solid body
of work with a clear direction---a direction that her second volume showed
developing. (her first, Begriffstudio, was a kind of exploration of
internet- and media-speak, with meanings deliberately hard to pin down).
Deeply impressive work here... One to look out for, I think. This lady is
the real thing."

Tony Frazer, Shearsman Books.

Free entrance, Cash bar

------------------------------ -------------------
Saint Georges English Bookshop
Wörther Strasse 27 - Prenzlauer Berg - 10405 Berlin - 030 81 798 333
Mon-Fri 11AM-8PM - Sat 11AM-7PM

what is the what - dave eggers

i put down 'what is the what' by dave eggers after countless hours yesterday at 22.38 precisely. it was quite a relief to have finished it, frankly, and not only because its contained three books and 535 pages make it quite have to hold up in front of you. it was a relief to have finished it, because war is something that just never goes down well with me. 'what is the what' is the extraordinary journey of a young refugee boy called achak from sudan to the united states of america. it describes in great detail his ordeal - things happening to him that most of us can't even begin to imagine. this, i guess, is the reason why in spite of its length, the book rarely bored me. especially the passages where he talks about the UN-run camps and institutions have proven very interesting to someone who is interested in the subject. many times, however, i had to put it away because it was just all too much... so much suffering, so much pain, so much bad luck and yet such strength, resilience and clarity in chaos. 'what is the what' is and adventure story that is very well told and thus certainly recommendable for everyone who enjoys reading biographies or stories with a roller coaster plot line.

hermann bräuer und rené hamann bei 'read on, my dear'

i copy/pasted this text from their facebook event page and only inserted the links, so i won't guarantee for nothing. i won't even be able to attend myself as i'll be away that day. all i can say is i met rené and he was really nice.

München in den Achtzigern, es ist die Zeit von Kiss, Mötley Crüe und Van Halen. Holzingers Andi hat die Haare schön und obendrein einen Bass bekommen, seinem kometenhaften Aufstieg als Rockstar in einer Hair-Metal-Band steht also nichts mehr im Weg. Unter Tonnen von Schminke und begleitet von funkensprühenden Pyroshows arbeit sich Llord Nakcor ganz nach vorne, bis hin zum Plattenvertrag, und als endgültig der Durchbruch winkt, kommen ein paar versiffte Gestalten mit Akkustikgitarren und übernehmen die musikalische Weltherrschaft. Sie heißen Nirvana, und sie beenden die ruhmreiche Ära des Hair-Metal, ein Einschnitt, an den sich die Friseurinnen-Innung noch heute tränenreich erinnert. Und Hermann Bräuer.

Hermann Bräuer hat die Geschichte von Llord Nakcor in seinem Buch "Haarweg zur Hölle" aufgeschrieben, die Geschichte einer Jugend in München, die Geschichte einer Band in den 80ern, über Lidstriche, Jägermeister und zerstörte Boxentürme: alles, was ein Jugendroman braucht. Und er erzählt das alles so locker, charmant und pointiert, so liebevoll und nachsichtig mit seinen Protagonisten, dass man für einige Momente bedauert, nicht zurückreisen zu können ins München der 80er, um sich die Haare lang wachsen zu lassen und viel Unfug mit einem Haufen Kosmetika anzustellen.

René Hamann hingegen schreibt über das Gegenteil von München, nämlich Berlin. Seine kleinen, hintersinnigen Miniaturen aus allen Ecken der Stadt, durchzogen von kleinen Absurditäten und seltsamen Alltäglichkeiten sind von beruhigender Eleganz. Man kann es nicht besser sagen, als damals Werner van Bebber im Tagesspiegel: "Aber Hamanns Buch ist so schön kühl, lakonisch, uneitel und – Danke! Danke! – frei vom regierungsamtlichen und berlintourismusmarketingmäßigen Hype, dass man diese spröde spannende Stadt wiedererkennt hinter allen Be-Berlin-Fassadendekorationen. Hamann mag Berlin, das ist zu spüren."

Hermann Bräuer und René Hamann zu Gast bei Read on, my dear
20.01. Einlass 20:00 Uhr, Start 20:30
Yuma-Bar
Reuterstraße 63
Eintritt frei, Austritt mit Hut

fixpoetry.com

no idea why i hadn't heard of it earlier, but i hadn't: http://fixpoetry.com/

"Models know the Lost Generation"

(picture by clay larsen, taken from models are smart.)

the 50 books challenge becomes official & WOAW is on twitter now

as of today, the 50 books challenge has its own 50 books challenge fan page on facebook. this is open to everybody and i greatly encourage all of you to join!

also, i finally created a twitter account for WOAW. this will be linked to the above mentioned fan page - i even created a #50bookschallenge hash tag. feel free to add WOAW on twitter any time, i'll be delighted and more than happy to add you, too.

rheinsberg - kurt tucholsky

i finished tucholsky´s rheinsberg - ein bilderbuch für verliebte ("rheinsberg - a picture book for lovers") on the tube this morning - a quick and inexpensive read: only 2,-€ at reclam. tucholsky's language is very bloomy, and if it weren't for clärchen, one of the main characters, and her funky usage of speech (not a defect!), rheinsberg could easily be mistaken for a shallow and rather unoriginal description of a romantic weekend in the country. there is no arc of tension or straight-forward dramaturgy, and it remains unclear what tucholsky was really trying to tell us. a vague attempt of teaching the reader a lesson by contrasting the irrationality of love with a more rational world view was only made on the last four or so pages. in fact, i found rheinsberg to be more of a writing exercise in style and the study of characters and their feelings, settings and interaction between all of the above. the only suprise, if you would like to call it that, was the sudden end - one gets the impression kurt himself had had enough of his own enamored cheers and sniggering. overall, however, rheinsberg is an amusing, upbeat read that is certainly worth a look if you are a) a writer, b) from berlin, c) in love, or d) headed to rheinsberg anytime soon.

fun fact taken from wikipedia: "In order to support the sales of the book [Rheinsberg], Tucholsky and Szafranski, who had illustrated the tale, opened a "Book Bar" on Kurfürstendamm in Berlin: anyone who bought a copy of his book also received a free glass of schnapps. This student prank however came to an end after only a few weeks."

reborn - susan sontag's early diaries (1947-1963)

susan sontag's early diaries are really more of a reading list than anything else. after trying to make sense of what susan was talking about over the first 84 pages, i finally decided her diaries were an educational (as opposed to 'fun') read - and started looking up some of the authors, books, philosophers, operas, pieces of art or music i hadn't heard of previously on wikipedia. so much so, that on page 205 i donated 10 euros to the wikimedia foundation.

it is absolutely amazing to learn what susan read in her teens and twenties, and her treasury of words to describe all of it is unrivaled. unfortunately, i am far less well-read, so often i couldn't comment on or relate to her findings. incoherent, lone sentences like "Nominalist attitude to object in pre-cubist painting." are frequent and unless you are prepared to look into some secondary literature, i suppose reading susan's early diaries is not very enjoyable at all. however, if you are prepared to do so, your vocabulary and general knowledge will certainly extend.

in the more private passages, i especially enjoyed reading about susan's take on love ("Love as immolation of the self."), marriage ("... each couple in its own little house ... it's the most repulsive thing in the world.") and parenting ("Make him [her son] aware that there's a grown-up world that's none of his business."). the depth of her feelings as well as her voluptuous language and imagery are reminiscent of sylvia plath's (i read plath's diaries a couple of years back) and i appreciated susan's clarity and analytical ability ("My mother improved her manners by losing her appetite."). towards the end of the book, susan also discusses her attitudes and aspirations as a writer. i enjoyed these passages and think that they make a good finish/ outlook on her professional future. all in all, i have hardly ever read a piece of writing as brutally honest.

(picture taken from postsecret.)

"I have diarrhea of the mouth and constipation of the typewriter." (Susan Sontag, 1957)

the 50 books 'challenge'

adriana, an old school friend of mine, challenged me to read 50 books in 2010 and share my thoughts on them with her on facebook. i figured this might be of interest to you guys, too.

50 sounded a lot to me at first, but i guess this is just because my own reading has become very uncoordinated, reading bits and pieces here and there, and because i have long lost my habit of focusing on just one book at a time. nowadays, i am usually reading three simultaneously: one for pleasure, one for study, and a light one of either kind to bring on the train.

currently, these are:
susan sontag's early diaries,
sol stein's stein on writing,
and i just finished stefan zweig's fear.

here are my thoughts on fear (i won't give you a summary of the book, though, cause i think blurbs make books boring and create a fake experience of literature - no one should be knowing what's about to happen in advance!):

stefan zweig wrote fear in vienna in 1910, but only published the novella in 1925 after thoroughly revising it. i quite liked it, although it didn't take me all too long to figure out its plot. however, fear was still written interestingly enough to finish reading it. i find that zweig was very good at describing his characters and their emotions; in my humble opinion, he sometimes overdid that a little in fear, yet he managed to cut long descriptions just when they started to get annoying. all in all, fear is a recommendable read if you're looking for something brief and entertaining.

the literary 2009...

summed up by DIE ZEIT. a nice and long (german) article, with plenty of links, just how i like it... DIE WELT also has one, sorted by months - skip the little top summary, though, as it just seems to be a fucked up version of the first paragraph.

new link

i only came across Lyrikzeitung & Poetry News today... interesting!

verkippung

ich als: eine brechende feder
am elbbaum der steht und
die tanne am haus gegenüber
verwünscht die im garten die
jahre hochzählt ich: als teil eines
kuckucks bin all seine kopflose
qual in den stählernern tälern
am hang steil die rinde der nacht
hat die dunen aus denen ich wuchs
hart und hölzern gemacht ich:
wehe als: das gegenteil der kralle
von der nennen wir sie haltestelle ab
und luft ist nur um meinen sternruf
vor dem schnabel aufzufangen
ich: die neige und ich: falle als kontur.

if you happen to live in toronto, this might be of interest to you:

"Just across the hall from Descant Magazine is the office of NOW HEAR THIS!, Descant's literary outreach arm which is beginning to buzz with plans and preparations for the fourth year of our hugely successful Students, Writers and Teachers Program. In anticipation of the 2010 S.W.A.T. season, we are on the look-out for more writers to help make a difference in the lives and in the writing of Toronto high school students.

Applications to be a S.W.A.T. writer have just been released and if you are a professional writer and would like to be considered for the position, read the following job description, fill it out an application and mail it to the NHT! office with your C.V., cover letter and references!

Job Description:
In late-2005, the Descant Arts & Letters Foundation began its NOW HEAR THIS! outreach program, which runs writing workshops with community organizations, literacy groups and at-risk-youth around Toronto.

NOW HEAR THIS! and the Toronto Catholic District School Board partnered to create S.W.A.T. (Students, Writers and Teachers), a program that places professional authors in high school classrooms to run workshops with students, now in its fourth year. NOW HEAR THIS!S.W.A.T. for the 2010 winter semester. and the TCDSB are now looking for five more writers to join

S.W.A.T. writers in residence are placed in TCDSB secondary schools and together with teachers develop and facilitate writing workshops based on course curricula. For ten weeks, writers plan exercises with students to help work on basic sentence structure, grammar, developing persuasive arguments, creative expression and critical thinking.

Responsibilities:
- Planning workshops and scheduling classroom visits with teachers
- Submitting workshop outlines to NHT! and the TCDSB
- Weekly visits to classrooms, facilitating workshops, reading and editing student work
- Bi-weekly journals submitted to NHT! and the TCDSB
- Helping to compile class-specific component of print anthology of student work
- Final program evaluation

Requirements:
- professional author as per the Canada Council definition
- Have at least one (1) published work
- ability to work with others and independently
- experience teaching and/or working with youth
- familiarity with Microsoft Word and Excel; regular email and internet access
- commitment to goals of Now Hear This! program

Additional Information:
Please download and fill out the Application Form here and submit with a cover letter, résumé and references. Email and fax applications will not be considered.

Send Submissions by January 4, 2010 to:

SWAT 2010 - Residency Application
Mark Laliberte, NHT Program Manager
c/o Descant/NHT!
50 Baldwin St.
Toronto, ON
M5T 1L4

If you have any questions or require more information, please contact Rachel Hopwood, S.W.A.T. Residency Program Coordinator at rachel (at) nowhearthis.ca

was hat jemand an sich genommen
das zweifeln das andenken an sich
genommen. das andenken nur
nicht das fertig- .

den zweifel genommen und
in das vergessen ge- (legt?)
also gegen das denken
entschieden. und be- .

jemand hat sich verzweifelt
benommen. im innern verdacht.
hat die enden ans -schlechtliche
ende gemacht (siehe: ein / eine
es wächst) und ent- .

call for submissions

the Literaturautomat is calling for submissions for next year's shafts. you should apply, this is a cool project - and i'm not just saying that because i was featured last year. there are five topics to chose from and deadline is 15 december 2009.

literary berlin in december

Die Berliner Literaturkritik has a long list of literary events taking place in berlin in december.

theorie / theory [rough translation]

ich hab eine kerbe gekratzt
dich gebogen hineingelegt
und eine kerbe geschlossen

ich habe dich eingepasst (und:
ja du warst für die kerbe gemacht)
dich im kühlen der kerbe vergessen

es wurd eine kerbe gekratzt
du gehoben gelegt und
am boden der kerbe vergessen.




[i cut a kerf
and bent you laid you into it
i shut a kerf

you fit in (did you know:
you were made for that kerf)
i forgot all about you

a kerf was cut
you were taken and laid
and forgotten.]

(picture taken from postsecret.)

Entstört

Man wird sich ein eigener Faden.
Rot. Folgt sich als Mensch.

Den Steinen entnommen:
Ein Arm. Eine halbe Idee. Nackt und flach.
Eine Wohnung, in die man zurückkehrt.

Entzeichnet von allen Emblemen.
Entlanggerutscht.

annina luzie schmid in lyrikmail !

after many years of receiving selected poetry in my inbox everyday, i was delighted to find one of my own poems called drei arten betäubung featured in today's lyrikmail. quite honestly, this made my day.

i can only recommend you sign up for gregor koall's excellent free service and donate some money to the SOS Kinderdörfer in his name. lyrikmail is also on twitter. (as am i.)

alright, that was it, i gotta get ready for kookread now (see below).

kopiert den kookbooks text zur lesung am 5. november, man möge mir verzeihen

==============================

==============================================
KOOKREAD IN KREUZBERG: JUNGE LITERATUR VON PAUL BRODOWSKY, DANIEL FALB UND FELICIA ZELLER
============================================================================

Donnerstag, 05.11.2009, 20:00 Uhr
kvartira No. 62
Nach dem schönen Start am neuen Ort geht es weiter mit KOOKread im Kvartira
- kleine, feine, entspannte Lesungen von jungen und jüngsten Autor/innen.
Mischungen, Entdeckungen, Raum für Getränke und Gespräche.

Am Donnerstag lesen Paul Brodowsky, Daniel Falb und Felicia Zeller (Foto)
Prosa und Lyrik.

Paul Brodowsky, geboren 1980 in Kiel, lebt in Freiburg, Berlin und in
Großraumwagen der Deutschen Bahn. Er studierte Kreatives Schreiben und
Kulturjournalismus an der Universität Hildesheim und war Mitbegründer und
bis 2004 Herausgeber der Literaturzeitschrift BELLA triste. Ausserdem ist
er Mitbegründer des Literaturfestivals PROSANOVA. Zwei Bücher erschienen
bislang bei Suhrkamp: "Milch Holz Katzen" und "Die blinde Fotografin".
Neben Prosa schreibt er auch dramatische Texte, zuletzt "Regen in
Neukölln". Seit 2007 unterrichtet er Schreiben an der Uni Hildesheim.
Stipendienaufenthalte in New York und Los Angeles, zahlreiche
Auszeichnungen und Preise, u.a. den Förderpreis zum Nicolas-Born-Preis und
den Preis der Frankfurter Autorenstiftung.

Daniel Falb, geboren 1977 in Kassel, lebt seit 1998 in Berlin. Studium der
Philosophie, Soziologie, Politikwissenschaften. Derzeit ist er Doktorand
der Philosophie. Falbs Gedichte erschienen in Zeitschriften und
Anthologien, u.a. in Edit, Bella Triste, Zwischen den Zeilen, Sprache im
technischen Zeitalter, Jahrbuch der Lyrik. Bei kookbooks kam nach seinem
Debüt "die räumung dieser parks", 2003, vor wenigen Tagen sein neuer
Gedichtband "bancor" heraus. Falb wurde u.a. mit dem Lyrikdebütpreis des
Literarischen Colloquiums Berlin 2005 und einem Stipendium der Stiftung
Niedersachsen 2006 ausgezeichnet.

Felicia Zeller, geboren 1970 in Stuttgart, lebt und arbeitet als
Schriftstellerin in Berlin-Neukölln. Sie diplomierte 1998 mit einer Arbeit
über nonlineare Dramaturgie an der Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. 2008
wurde ihr Theaterstück "Kaspar Häuser Meer" mit dem Publikumspreis bei den
Mülheimer Theatertagen ausgezeichnet, die Inszenierung läuft zur Zeit am
Maxim Gorki Theater, Berlin. Für ihren ersten Kurzprosaband "Einsam Lehnen
am Bekannten" erhielt sie den Clemens Brentano Preis 2009. Brandneu
erschienen im Lilienfeld Verlag, Düsseldorf, ist "Bier für Frauen, Kaspar
Häuser Meer, Gespräche mit Astronauten. Drei Stücke".
Ort:
Kvartira No. 62
Lübbener Str. 18
10997 Berlin

Der sozialfreundliche Eintritt beträgt 3,- EUR

(picture taken from postsecret.)

die letzte avantgarde

DER FREITAG hat einen artikel darüber, warum man als autor im netz kein geld verdient. leider schon eine woche alt, habe ihn aber erst heute gefunden.

jede menge interviews mit großen autoren

in der literatur-"abteilung" auf galore.de. alles umsonst und spannend, sehr zu empfehlen.

not on the list

just like in the past couple of years, i am not among the finalists of this year's open mike. but alexander gumz is. he's nice and writes good poetry, so that's ok. (i translated his poem wo diese ränder enden a year ago.) congratulations!

poets except daniel falb

here are a couple of pictures andré jahn took at that political poetry reading i wrote about for lyrikkritik.de's Laufbotschaften. everybody's in there except daniel falb. top to bottom: angela sanmann, ann cotten, björn kuhligk, florian voß and tom bresemann. i took these pictures from andré's facebook album lesung-politische-lyrik-im-so-36-letzten-donnerstag with his permission.