Ernst Jandl

Ernst Jandl (August 1, 1925, Vienna, Austria – June 9, 2000, Vienna) was an Austrian writer, poet, and translator.

Influenced by Dada he started to write experimental poetry, first published in the journal "Neue Wege" (New Ways) in 1952.

He was a good friend of Friederike Mayröcker. In 1973 he co-founded the "Grazer Autorenversammlung" in Graz, became its vice president in 1975 and was its president from 1983 to 1987.

In his poems, he plays with the German language, in many different ways, often at the level of single characters or phonemes. For example, in his famous poem "Ottos Mops" (= "Otto's Pug"), the only vowel used is "o". Of course, poems like this cannot easily be translated into other languages.

Most of his poems are better heard than read. His lectures were always known as very impressive events, because of the particular way he pronounced his poems. Poems like "schtzngrmm" "(his version of the word "Schützengraben" which describes the trenches of the World War I)" can be understood only if read correctly. " [http://www.fen-net.de/christian.scholz/lecture/Jandl1.htm schtzngrmm] " is an experimental poem in which he tells the sounds of war only with combinations of letters, which sound like gunfires or detonating missiles.

He has translated Gertrude Stein, Robert Creeley's "The Island", and John Cage's "Silence".

Some other of his best known poems are "lichtung" (also known as "lechts & rinks", in English "light and reft" ) and "kneiernzuck".

An example of a short poem, written in English:
three wives [three wives, from Ernst Jandl, stanzen. 1992. ISBN 3-630-86784-7 ]

i never remember my second wife
i never remember my third wife
i always remember what i always remember
ain't ever even had a first wife

Notes

Awards

*1974: Georg-Trakl-Preis ("see" Georg Trakl)
*1982: Anton-Wildgans-Preis
*1984: Georg-Büchner-Preis ("see" Georg Büchner)
*1984: Großer Österreichischer Staatspreis für Literatur
*1988: Deutscher Kleinkunstpreis
*1993: Kleist-Preis
*1995: Friedrich-Hölderlin-Preis ("see" Friedrich Hölderlin)

Poems

*"Ottos Mops" 20. November 1963;
*"Laut und Luise" 1966;
*"sprechblasen" 1968;
*"der künstliche baum" 1970;
*"idyllen" 1989;
*"Aus dem wirklichen Leben" 1999;
*"Reft and Light" (Providence, RI: Burning Deck, 2000); translated from the German by various American poets, ISBN 1-886224-34-X

Books

* lechts und rinks. gedichte, statements, peppermints; Luchterhand, ISBN 3-630-62043-4, in a poor translation: "light and reft. poems, statements, peppermints"
* laut und luise; Luchterhand, ISBN 3-630-62030-2
* Interpretationen, Gedichte von Ernst Jandl; Reclam, ISBN 3-15-017519-4
* ernst jandl, "aus dem wirklichen Leben: gedichte und prosa", with 66 drawings by Hans Ticha, Büchergilde Gutenberg 2000, ISBN 3-7632-4970-2

External links

* [http://www.ub.fu-berlin.de/internetquellen/fachinformation/germanistik/autoren/multi_ijk/jandl.html A collection of web links ]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=9979709 Ernst Jandl on Find-A-Grave]
* [http://www.signandsight.com/features/398.html "Writing is the food of the gods" ] Friederike Mayröcker's poem about her companion at signandsight.com
* [http://www.ubu.com/papers/solt/austria.html Ernst Jandl at UbuWeb] sound files to download and discussion of his concrete poetry at UbuWeb

Persondata
NAME= Jandl, Ernst
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Austrian writer, poet, and translator
DATE OF BIRTH=August 1, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH=Vienna, Austria
DATE OF DEATH=June 9, 2000
PLACE OF DEATH=Vienna, Austria