Rainer Kirsch (17 July 1934 – 4 September 2015) was a German writer and poet.
Life and career
Kirsch was born in
Döbeln
Döbeln ( hsb, Doblin) is a town in Saxony, Germany, part of the Mittelsachsen district, on both banks of the river Freiberger Mulde.
History
* 981: First written mention of Döbeln (Margravate of Meissen).
* Around 1220: Döbeln is describe ...
in 1934. After graduating from high school, he studied history at the Klosterschule Roßleben and philosophy at the
Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg
Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...
and the
University of Jena
The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany.
The un ...
in 1953. In 1957 he was relegated, and in 1958 he was expelled from the
Socialist Unity Party of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...
(SED). After that, he worked as a laborer in a print shop, as a chemical worker, and in agriculture.
From 1960 until his death in 2015, he was a freelance writer and published his first poems. From 1963 to 1965, he studied at the
German Institute for Literature
The German Institute for Literature (German: ''Deutsches Literaturinstitut Leipzig'', DLL) is a part of Leipzig University. It was founded in 1955 under the name Johannes R. Becher-Institut. Among the noted writers who graduated from the school a ...
in Leipzig. He was considered a representative of the Saxon School of Poetry.
From 1960 to 1968, he was married to the writer
Sarah Kirsch. In 1973, he was excluded from the SED for the second time due to disputes over his comedy ''Heinrich Schlaghands Höllenfahrt''. After the peaceful revolution in
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
in 1990, he was president of the East German Writers' Association, in the same year a member of the
Academy of Arts in Berlin. Kirsch was also a member of the Saxon Academy of Arts.
Kirsch emerged as a writer of poetry, plays, short stories and essays, radio plays and children's books. He also produced numerous translations and adaptations from Russian (
Osip Mandelstam
Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam ( rus, Осип Эмильевич Мандельштам, p=ˈosʲɪp ɨˈmʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mənʲdʲɪlʲˈʂtam; – 27 December 1938) was a Russian and Soviet poet. He was one of the foremost members of the A ...
,
Anna Akhmatova
Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; uk, А́нна Андрі́ївна Горе́нко, Ánna Andríyivn ...
,
Sergei Yesenin,
Vladimir Mayakovsky
Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (, ; rus, Влади́мир Влади́мирович Маяко́вский, , vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ məjɪˈkofskʲɪj, Ru-Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky.ogg, links=y; – 14 Apr ...
,
Daniil Kharms
Daniil Ivanovich Kharms (russian: Дании́л Ива́нович Хармс; – 2 February 1942) was an early Soviet-era Russian avant-gardist and absurdist poet, writer and dramatist.
Early years
Kharms was born as Daniil Yuvach ...
,
Yevgeny Yevtushenko
Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Yevtushenko ( rus, links=no, 1=Евге́ний Алекса́ндрович Евтуше́нко; 18 July 1933 – 1 April 2017) was a Soviet and Russian poet. He was also a novelist, essayist, dramatist, screenwriter, ...
,
Vladimir Vysotsky
Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky ( rus, links=no, Владимир Семёнович Высоцкий, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr sʲɪˈmʲɵnəvʲɪtɕ vɨˈsotskʲɪj; 25 January 1938 – 25 July 1980), was a Soviet singer-songwriter, poet, and actor ...
, and
Maxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...
),
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
(
Vazha-Pshavela
Vazha-Pshavela ( ka, ვაჟა-ფშაველა), simply referred to as Vazha ( ka, ვაჟა) (26 July 1861 – 10 July 1915), is the pen name of the Georgian poet and writer Luka Razikashvili ( ka, ლუკა რაზიკა ...
), English (
John Keats,
Percy Bysshe Shelley) and French (
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and worl ...
,
Edmond Rostand) languages.
Kirsch died in Berlin on 4 September 2015 at the age of 81.
Rainer Kirsch, German author & poet, died at 81
Works
*Berlin-Sonnenseite, Reportage (with Sarah Kirsch) (1964)
*Gespräch mit dem Saurier, Gedichte (with Sarah Kirsch) (1965)
*Heinrich Schlaghands Höllenfahrt (1973)
*Wenn ich mein rotes Mützchen hab, Kinderbuch, Kinderbuchverlag, (Ost-)Berlin (1974)
*Kopien nach Originalen, Porträts 1974, mit einem Report über seine Schulzeit in Roßleben
*Das Wort und seine Strahlung, Essays zur Dichtungstheorie (1976)
*Vom Räuberchen, dem Rock und dem Ziegenbock, Erzählung (with Hans Ticha) (1978)
*Auszog das Fürchten zu lernen, Gedichte (1978)
*Das Land Bum-Bum, Oper (Music by Georg Katzer)
*Ausflug machen, Gedichte (1980)
*Die Perlen der grünen Nixe, ein mathematisches Märchen (1983)
*Der kleine lila Nebel, Kinderbuch (with Johannes K. G. Niedlich) (1985)
*Ordnung im Spiegel, Essays, Notizen, Gespräche, Reclam, Leipzig, 1985; 2. Auflage, Reclam, Leipzig (1991)
*Sauna oder die fernherwirkende Trübung, Erzählungen (1985)
*Kunst in Mark Brandenburg, Gedichte, Hinsdorff, Rostock 1988, 3-356-00151-5; Hanser, München (1989)
*Anna Katarina oder Die Nacht am Moorbusch, eine sächsische Schauerballade nebst dreizehn sanften Liedern und einem tiefgründigen Gespräch. Illustriert von Renate Totzke-Israel, Hinstorff, Rostock (1991)
*Die Talare der Gottesgelehrten, Kleine Schriften. Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle (1999):
*Werke (4 Bände), Eulenspiegel, Berlin (2004)
*Band 1: Gedichte & Lieder.
*Band 2: Erzählungen & Porträts.
*Band 3: Stücke & Libretti.
*Band 4: Essays & Gespräche.
*Der Menschenfeind. Komodie von Molière, nachgedichtet von Rainer Kirsch, Eulenspiegel, Berlin (2009)
Audiobooks
*In: Dichtung des 20. Jahrhunderts: Meine 24 sächsischen Dichter (collaborated with Gerhard Pötzsch), 2 CDs, Militzke, Leipzig (2009)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirsch, Rainer
1934 births
2015 deaths
People from Döbeln
Socialist Unity Party of Germany members
21st-century German writers
21st-century German male writers
20th-century German writers
Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg alumni
University of Jena alumni
Leipzig University alumni