From Charlottenburg to Middleton

Derived from a symposium at the Institute of Germanic & Romance Studies in Michael Hamburger’s memory, this volume explores his poetry and creative prose, his translations, the ‘person’ and his world. His scholarly writing was one element in his work, his jargon-free criticism retaining an undiminished urgency, freshness and vital literacy. His poetry ranges itself against the tracks and mechanisms of monstrous order, and seeks to mark out a territory where some kind of value can be disclosed, both within and beyond the poetry. As a translator, Hamburger asks the reader to hear between the lines of English poetry the German text, the text that stretches the length and changes the rhythm of the English sentence. These essays take the reader to the heartland of Hamburger’s life and work, and look at two very different attempts to capture his world on film. The volume is illustrated by stills from Frank Wierke’s acclaimed documentary Ein englischer Dichter aus Deutschland (2007).