German Poetry Now: A bilingual online-anthology, featured by DAS GEDICHT chapbook
Kerstin Hensel
Thingamajig
The thing in itself
Is irresolvable
In itself as a thing-word
Says nothing else than
To be a thingamajig But
To pin it down
That thing in itself
May work well with other things
Says this Mr. Thingster over there
Sounds the thingspeeper in the grandfather clock
Ding Dong!
And don’t forget Thingau (zip code 87648)!
translated by Paul-Henri Campbell
+ German Original / Das OriginalKerstin Hensel
Dingsbums
Das Ding an sich
Läßt sich nicht lösen
Von sich als Dingwort
Kann es nichts sagen als
Ein Dingsbums zu sein Aber
Das Ding an sich
Dingfest zu machen
Dürfte gelingen an anderen Dingen
Meint so ein Dingrich da
Schlägt der Dingspieprich in der Uhr
Ding Dong!
Und 37351 Dingelstädt nicht vergessen!
© Kerstin Hensel, Berlin
aus: DAS GEDICHT Bd. 22 / Oktober 2014
+ About the author / Zum Autor
Kerstin Hensel was born in Karl-Marx-Stadt (today’s Chemnitz) in 1962. A trained nurse, she was invited to study at the East German cadre factory for literature, the prestigious Johannes R. Becher Institute in Leipzig (1983 – 1985). In 1988 she began teaching drama at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin. She has been active in virtually every literary genre, including screenwriting and children’s books. Kerstin Hensel has been invited to numerous residencies such as the Villa Massimo in Rome. She is a member of the German P.E.N. Center and the Academy of the Arts Berlin. Her poetry, in particular, is marked by a keen capacity for sensitive introspection that is, however, never as monadic as to not realize the social and economic conditions permeating modern society. Although her work often expands upon cultural icons or philosophical ideas, Kerstin Hensel usually deals with them with devious and ironic glee. It seems as if in her version of the world, high culture existed in order to be put back into its place, into the center of our hearts. Her most recent collection of poetry is entitled »Das gefallene Fest« (Luchterhand, Munich 2012), and it was followed by an essayistic tract on writing that surveys questions of poetology as well as giving very practical advice on creative writing »Das verspielte Papier. Über starke, schwache und vollkommen misslungene Gedichte« (Luchterhand, Munich 2014).
»Lustful Things – Geile Sachen!« im Archiv
»Lustful Things – Geile Sachen!« is an online collection of contemporary German-language poetry in English translation. All poems were taken from issue no. 22 of the German poetry magazine DAS GEDICHT, focused on the Poetry of Things. New English translations by Paul-Henri Campbell as well as the German originals are published here every Wednesday. All poems of this online-collection are also published in a special print-edition. In order to read previous poems in this series, click here.
»Lustful Things – Geile Sachen!« ist eine Online-Sammlung zeitgenössischer deutschsprachiger Dinggedichte in englischer Übersetzung. Alle Texte sind Band 22 der Zeitschrift DAS GEDICHT entnommen. Jeden Mittwoch erscheint ein neues Gedicht, das von Paul-Henri Campbell ins Englische übertragen wurde, zusammen mit dem deutschen Original. Die Beiträge dieser Online-Anthologie gibt es auch als Sonderausgabe in Buchform. Alle bereits erschienenen Folgen von »Lustful Things – Geile Sachen!« finden Sie hier.
»Lustful Things – Geile Sachen!« im Archiv
