Kurt Hellmer

Kurt Hellmer, d 11 May 1975, was a literatus who, as a New York literary agent represented Max Frisch [ [http://www.powerhousetheatre.net/Archives/1964.html Frisch, "The Firebugs"] ] and Friedrich Dürrenmatt, [ [http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=FA0C13FC3858137B93C0AB1782D85F4D8585F9 New York Times, 22 September 1959] ] amongst others.

A widely experienced director and playwright in Germany and Austria, [ [http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F40812FD345C177B93C3A91789D85F4D8485F9 New York Times, 1 February 1949] ] Hellmer, having fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s, was a prominent figure in the German exile community in New York, editor of Aufbau, [ [http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F40812FD345C177B93C3A91789D85F4D8485F9 New York Times, 1 February 1949] ] forcefully advocating avant garde forms and sensibilities such as the epic theatre of Brecht, the Theatre of the Absurd, advocating and advancing the work of such figures as Erwin Piscator. [ [http://www.erwin-piscator.de/08%20Mediennachweis/BIBLIOGRAPHIE.pdf Bibliography, Erwin Piscator (German) Site] ] [ [http://deposit.ddb.de/online/exil/swkatalog/r/36942.htm Max Reinhardt] ]

Hellmer became a producer and literary agent in the 1940s, [ [http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F10A14F83C5F1B7B93C7AB178FD85F418485F9 New York Times, 25 April 1945] ] representing, in addition to Frisch and Dürrenmatt, such figures as Sławomir Mrożek, [ [http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F3071EFA3C5B147A93C7A81783D85F458685F9 New York Times, 15 August 1961] ] Michael Noonan, [ [http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms6185 Guide to the Papers of Michael Noonan, National Library of Australia] ] [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Picard Jacob Picard,] [ [http://findingaids.cjh.org/?fnm=JacobPicard&pnm=LBI Guide to the Papers of Jacob Picard, Center for Jewish History] ] and Jane Rule, [ [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/u_arch/janerul1.html University of British Columbia Archives.] ] and producing the work of authors such as George Bernard Shaw. [ [http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F40812FD345C177B93C3A91789D85F4D8485F9 New York Times, 1 February 1941] ]

Hellmer's ideals and commitments, both aesthetic and social, are illustrated by the instance of Jane Rule for whom he ultimately succeeded in securing publication of her first novel, "Desert of the Heart", in 1963, at a time of considerable resistance to the publication of such work. [ [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/u_arch/janerul1.html University of British Columbia Archives.] ]

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