Together with the Freie Akademie der Künste, the Harbour Front Literature Festival invites you to a special evening with Matthias Politycki, the grand seigneur of contemporary German-language poetry. In Meisenfrei, Politycki brings together everyday life and the abyss, bar parlando and psalm-singing, great poetry and tangible social criticism in an unmistakable way. A book premiere full of wit, seriousness and the art of language - and with a clear view of our times.

About the book "Meisenfrei. 99 poems"

When Martha meets the archangel Tilman at the bar, when lovers argue, laugh or lose, then we are right in the middle of Politycki's favorite Hamburg pub "Meisenfrei". From there, the journey continues into the world and into the vastness of poetic imagination. In his new poems, Matthias Politycki tells of King Renaud's lovesickness, of the delicate little blue flower and of the brutal comedy of everyday life in Calcutta - always form-conscious, direct and often with an astonishing punch line.

Meisenfrei is a poetic panopticon between social mirror, literary satire and emotional stocktaking.

Publication date: October 08, 2025

About the author:

Matthias Politycki, born in 1955, lives in Vienna and is one of the most prominent voices in German-language literature. He has been publishing novels, short stories, essays and poetry for almost four decades. His poems are considered accessible and at the same time artistic - precise, true to life and often surprisingly funny. Meisenfrei is his tenth volume of poetry.