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Günter Kunert Germany    PWF 2008

Günter Kunert has been one of the most distinguished poets and prose writers in German literature for the past fifty years. Born in 1929 in Berlin, Kunert lived in East Berlin, where he befriended Bertolt Brecht and later protested the expulsion of poet-songwriter Wolf Biermann—which led to his own departure to West Germany in 1979.

“The promises of governments come to nothing even before the postman can push them through the slot.”

Günter Kunert´s critical attitude attends multifarious literary forms—from lyric poetry, film scripts, science fiction to aphorisms—and adorns his paintings and drawings.

Kunert’s numerous works include: Unwelcome Guest, On the Way to Utopia, Delayed Monologues, Windy Times, The Way Out is Open, As the Hotel Room Said to the Guest, and most recently The Old Man.

“The Old Man asks God: How may I be
young again? God ponders long
before he replies: You
must metamorphose.
The old Man’s hopes are raised:
How so?
Die and become,
a maggot to begin with—after that
we’ll take it from there.”

Günter Kunert lives in Kaisborstel, Germany.

 

Günter Kunert

Günter Kunert: Self-Portrait in Refracted Light

02.04.2008 Readings

To present the real self: a paradox: how can one slip into one's own face without first recognizing that this is a mask and thus no longer one's own.

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Günter Kunert

The Old Man remembers

02.04.2008 Readings

Günter Kunert

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Günter Kunert

The Old Man at midnight

02.04.2008 Readings

Günter Kunert

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Günter Kunert

The Old Man jots down

02.04.2008 Readings

Günter Kunert

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Günter Kunert

The Old Man wears a scar on his leg

02.04.2008 Readings

Günter Kunert - The Old Man

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G. Kunert

The Old Man pinches a bottle of perfume

02.04.2008 Readings

Günter Kunert - The Old Man

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