Entwürfe ohne Maß – Poesie lesen von: Barbara Köhler

In the organizer's words:

The poet Barbara Köhler (born 1959 in Burgstädt, died 2021 in Mühlheim an der Ruhr) wanted to speak through the gap. Trained by her experience of East German dictatorship, she wrote her texts as a poetic revolt against a privileged, male authorial authority. She found German to be a "strangely centric language", which she countered with a different, polyphonic language in which a "hum of differences" resounds. Her aim was to playfully thwart "the hardware of the ego machine", which works towards "final determination". Köhler knew: "I am not in charge" and "I am paper described by the other". Her work was therefore created early on in dialog, especially with visual art. The word enters the space, becomes the object in a direct confrontation with a changing counterpart. Her texts are characterized by places (Duisburg, Istanbul and Lisbon) and lifelong obsessions (Wittgenstein and the Odyssey). Her translations of Beckett and Stein are canonical. The volume Schriftstellen, edited by Marie Luise Knott, has now been published by Suhrkamp Verlag. It provides an insight into her rich oeuvre and brings together texts from all creative phases, from Deutsches Roulette to Niemands Frau to Istanbul, zusehends and writings from her estate.

In reading and conversation: Anneke Brassinga | Marie Luise Knott | Ulf Stolterfoht

Moderation: Uljana Wolf