Durs Grünbein Wins the Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award 2020
The Zbigniew Herbert Foundation has announced the laureate of the 2020 Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award. The honour has gone to German poet and essayist Durs Grünbein. He has said that the discovery of contemporary Polish poetry helped in the creation of his own work, and believes that Herbert's poems are not only examples of formal mastery, but also a lesson in freedom of mind and character.
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Grünbein is one of the most famous and appreciated German language poets, not only because of the value of his huge output, but also because of the range of his interests and the variety of his undertakings. Born in the former GDR, he describes the experience of the grey days of the 'People’s Democracy', the grey streets of a war torn Dresden reduced to ashes, but also the colourful chaos and ambiguity of the present.
Grünbein, while remaining close to contemporary life, enters into a vivid communion with art and philosophy. His poems are dialogues with Seneca, Pascal, and Descartes. He constantly subjects existence to the scrutiny of poetic analysis, re-erecting a once destroyed bridge linking poetry and philosophy. In this sense, Grünbein is ever closer to Zbigniew Herbert's poetic tradition: universal culture continues to remain a reference point for him.
Durs Grünbein was born in Dresden in 1962. Grünbein studied Theatre Arts in Berlin and, in the mid-eighties, he became a freelancer working with editors of literary magazines. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and Germany’s unification, he travelled throughout Europe, Southeast Asia and the United States. He presently teaches Poetics at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts). He lives in East Berlin.
Grünbein debuted with Grauzone Morgens (Mornings in the Greyzones, 1988) and then continued to publish nearly twenty poetry collections. He is a translator, essayist and an author of opera librettos. The laureate himself said of the award:
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It is a great honour to receive an award named for Zbigniew Herbert, the Polish pioneer of post-war modern poetry. Discovering Polish contemporary poetry, first of all the one of Zbigniew Herbert, was of great help for me, both in an ethical and a philosophical sense.
His verses were not only examples of mastery in form and tone, they were lessons in freedom of mind and character, very useful for a person growing up in that little country behind the river Oder, the former East Germany.
This year’s laureate was chosen by an international jury composed of poets, essayists, translators and publishers: Yurii Andrukhovych (Ukraine), Edward Hirsch (USA), Michael Krüger (Germany), Mercedes Montana (Spain) and Tomasz Różycki (Poland). Krüger, juror, German poet and publisher, said of the laureate:
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Durs Grünbein is one of the finest poets and essayists of his generation. He also became one of Heiner Müller’s friends, the most influential intellectual in East Germany and in the West. After the Berlin Wall came down, Grünbein wrote two books of poetry, which became famous for their combination of poetical vision with modern knowledge.
Katarzyna Herbert, the poet’s widow and founder of the Herbert Foundation, reminisced:
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I am especially impressed that the jury decided to honour a poet from Germany, a country that was very important to Zbigniew Herbert. Thanks to outstanding translators, such as Karl Dedecius, he was able to publish his works there and was thereby literally loved by his German readers and poets. We spent many years together in West Berlin. Herbert said that it was a good city for a poet, with its adequate number of museums and spaces for walks.
I am especially impressed that the jury decided to honour a poet from Germany, a country that was very important to Zbigniew Herbert. Thanks to outstanding translators, such as Karl Dedecius, he was able to publish his works there and was thereby literally loved by his German readers and poets. We spent many years together in West Berlin. Herbert said that it was a good city for a poet, with its adequate number of museums and spaces for walks.
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Zbigniew Herbert with his wife, Katarzyna, Creative Work House of Polish Writers' Union, 1972, photo: Erazm Ciołek / Forum
The Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award is a distinction on the literary world stage primarily in the field of poetry. It has been given since 2013 in recognition of outstanding artistic and intellectual achievements, inspired by the values and ideals which Zbigniew Herbert’s work exemplifies. Previous laureates of the award: William Stanley Merwin, USA (2013), Charles Simic, USA (2014), Ryszard Krynicki, Poland (2015), Lars Gustafsson, Sweden (2016), Breyten Breytenbach, South Africa (2017), Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Ireland (2018), and Agi Mishol, Israel (2019).
The award ceremony will be held on 12th May 2020 at the Polski Theatre in Warsaw.
The PZU Foundation is the main strategic partner in the Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Awards 2020. Supporting partners of the Zbigniew Herbert Foundation include the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the Arnold Szyfman Polish Theatre in Warsaw and the National Library. This year’s media partner is Polish Radio.
The project was co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Fund for the Promotion of Culture.
For more information about the Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award:
Source: press materials, culture.pl; compiled by NR, 11 Mar 2020
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