Rolf Dieter Brinkmann (16 April 1940 – 23 April 1975) was a German writer of poems, short stories, a novel, essays, letters, and diaries.

Life and work

Rolf Dieter Brinkmann is considered an important forerunner of the German so-called '' Pop-Literatur''. He published nine books of poems in the 1960s, dealing with the appearance of the present culture and the sensual experience of active subjectivity. During that period he also wrote ''Keiner weiß mehr'' (Nobody knows anymore), a novel of modern family life. His early prose was inspired by the French ''

nouveau roman The Nouveau Roman (, "new novel") is a type of French novel in the 1950s and 60s that diverged from traditional literary genres. Émile Henriot coined the term in an article in the popular French newspaper ''Le Monde'' on May 22, 1957 to describ ...

''. The precision of description of this style never left him, but merged in his poetry with influences from Gottfried Benn and

William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. His '' Spring and All'' (1923) was written in the wake of T. S. Eliot's '' The Waste Land'' (1922). ...

Frank O'Hara Francis Russell "Frank" O'Hara (March 27, 1926 – July 25, 1966) was an American writer, poet, and art critic. A curator at the Museum of Modern Art, O'Hara became prominent in New York City's art world. O'Hara is regarded as a leading figure i ...

, and

Ted Berrigan Edmund Joseph Michael Berrigan Jr. (November 15, 1934 – July 4, 1983) was an American poet. Early life Berrigan was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on November 15, 1934. After high school, he spent a year at Providence College before joining ...

. In 1972/73 Brinkmann was a recipient of a fellowship at the German Academy

Villa Massimo Villa Massimo, short for Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo (), is a German cultural institution in Rome, established in 1910 and located in the Villa Massimo. The fellowship of the German Academy in Rome, often referred to as the German Rome P ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. His sensibility and the despair of civilisation permeating ''Rom, Blicke'' and the other posthumously published prose writings goes deep. The spring of 1974 he was a visiting lecturer at the German Department of

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

. On April 23, 1975, after a reading at Cambridge Poetry Festival Brinkmann was killed in London when he was hit by a car on his way to dinner with Jürgen Theobaldy. He was posthumously awarded the Petrarca-Preis in 1975 for his major and highly praised and influential last book of poetry ''Westwärts 1 & 2'' (

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

). In 2005 a new expanded edition of this book was published with 26 longer poems finally added as well as a 75 pages long postscript by the author. These parts were reluctantly excluded from the first edition by Brinkmann as the publisher thought the book was too extensive. In 2025, "Frank Xerox’ wüster Traum", a collaboration with Ralf-Rainer Rygulla, was published b
Dielmann-Verlag.

Selected works

* ''Frank Xerox’ wüster Traum'' (in collaboration with Ralf-Rainer Rygulla) ISBN 978-3-86638-469-9 * ''vorstellung meiner hände'' (2010) *''Briefe an Hartmut 1974–1975'' (1999) *''Schnitte.'' (1988) *''Erkundungen für die Präzisierung des Gefühls für einen Aufstand : Träume, Aufstände, Gewalt, Morde : Reise, Zeit, Magazin : die Story ist schnell erzählt (Tagebuch)'' (1987) *''Erzählungen'' (1985) *''Der Film in Worten : Prosa, Erzählungen, Essays, Hörspiele, Fotos, Collagen, 1965–1974'' (1982) *''Standphotos. Gedichte 1962–1970'' (1980) *''Rom, Blicke.'' (1979) *''Westwärts 1 & 2.'' (1975) (pbk.) *''Keiner weiß mehr.'' (1968)

English translations

*''Like a Pilot: Rolf Dieter Brinkmann, Selected Poems, 1963–1970''; translated by Mark Terrill (Sulphur River Literary Review Press, 2001) * ''Some Very Popular Songs'', one long poem from ''Westwärts 1 & 2'', translated by Mark Terrill (Toad Press, 2010). * ''Under Glass'', a foldout broadsheet of 13 poems, translated by Mark Terrill (Longhouse, 2010). * ''An Unchanging Blue'', ''Selected Poems 1962–1975'', trans. Mark Terrill (Parlor Press, 2011), 222 p. * Long poem
Some Very Popular Songs
', trans. Mark Terrill, published in

B O D Y ''B O D Y'' is an international online literary magazine publishing new work three times a year. B O D Y publishes short stories, poetry, creative nonfiction, reviews, translations, essays, artworks, photography, and has been noted for its elegan ...

Bibliography

*John MacKay, ''Inscription and Modernity: From Wordsworth to Mandelstam'' (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006), esp. pp. 28– 34.

References

Heinz Ludwig Arnold Heinz Ludwig Arnold (29 March 1940 – 1 November 2011) was a German literary journalist and publisher. He was also a leading advocate for contemporary literature. Early years Heinz Ludwig Arnold attended schools in Bochum and, subsequentl ...

(ed.), Zeitschrift

Text+Kritik ''Text+Kritik'' (stylized ''text+kritik'') is a quarterly German journal for literature, music, film, and cultural studies. It was founded in 1963 by Heinz Ludwig Arnold who edited it until his death in 2011. Each publication of ''text+kritik'' c ...

, Themenheft: ''Rolf Dieter Brinkmann.'' Nr. 71, 1981,
Index of contents
With an annotated selected bibliography. * Johann Reißer: ''Archäologie und Sampling – Die Neuordnung der Lyrik bei Rolf Dieter Brinkmann, Thomas Kling und Barbara Köhler''. Kulturverlag Kadmos, Berlin 2014, . * Thomas Boyken, Ina Cappelmann und Uwe Schwagmeier (Hrsg.): ''Rolf Dieter Brinkmann: Neue Perspektiven. Orte, Helden, Körper.'' Fink, München 2010, . * Theo Breuer: ''Was Neues im Westen oder Brinkmann macht weiter.'' In: ''Aus dem Hinterland. Lyrik nach 2000.'' Edition YE, Sistig 2005. * Maleen Brinkmann: ''R. D. Brinkmann. Literaturmagazin 36.'' Rowohlt, Reinbek 1995, . * Karl-Eckhard Carius (ed.): ''Brinkmann. Schnitte im Atemschutz.'' edition text + kritik, München 2008. * Roberto Di Bella: ''‚... das wildgefleckte Panorama eines anderen Traums‘. Rolf Dieter Brinkmanns späte
Romanprojekt
'. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2015, . * Otto Dörner: ''Rolf Dieter Brinkmann – Der Dichter aus Vechta.'' In: ''Jahrbuch für das Oldenburger Münsterland 1987.'' Vechta 1986, S. 322–340. * Gunter Geduldig, Ursula Schüssler (eds.): ''/:Vechta! Eine Fiktion!/: der Dichter Rolf Dieter Brinkmann.'' Secolo, Osnabrück 1995. * id. (ed. with Claudia Wehebrink): ''Bibliographie R. D. Brinkmann.'' Aisthesis, Bielefeld 1997. * id. (ed.): ''Amerikanischer Speck, englischer Honig, italienische Nüsse. Rolf Dieter Brinkmann zum 60.'' ''Eiswasser.'' Zeitschrift für Literatur, 7. Jahrgang, 2 Bände, Eiswasser Verlag 2000. * ders. und Marco Sagurna (eds.): ''Too much. Das lange Leben des Rolf Dieter Brinkmann.'' 2. ed. Eiswasser, Vechta 2000. – Collection of interviews with friends, scholars and writers. *Oliver Kobold: ''Lange nachdenkliche Gänge. Rolf Dieter Brinkmanns Lyrik und Prosa 1959–1962''. Universitätsverlag WINTER, Heidelberg 2014. * Andreas Moll: ''Text und Bild bei Rolf Dieter Brinkmann. Intermedialität im Spätwerk.'' Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2006. * Hansjürgen Richter: ''Ästhetik der Ambivalenz. Studien zur Struktur „postmoderner“ Lyrik, exemplarisch dargestellt an Rolf Dieter Brinkmanns Poetik und dem Gedichtband „Westwärts 1 & 2“.' Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1983. * Jan Röhnert, Gunter Geduldig (eds.): ''Rolf Dieter Brinkmann. Seine Gedichte in Einzelinterpretationen.'' 2 vols., Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2012, . * Jörgen Schäfer: ''Pop-Literatur. Rolf Dieter Brinkmann und das Verhältnis zur Populärkultur in der Literatur der sechziger Jahre.'' M & P Verlag für Wissenschaft und Forschung, Stuttgart 1998. * Stephanie Schmitt: ''Intermedialität bei Rolf Dieter Brinkmann. Konstruktionen von Gegenwart an den Schnittstellen von Text, Bild und Musik.'' transcript, Bielefeld 2012, . * Udo Seinsoth: ''Katalog Nr. 20.'' Bibliografie der Veröffentlichungen. Antiquariat Beim Steinernen Kreuz (Hrsg.): ''Rolf Dieter Brinkmann zum 50. Geburtstag.'' Eigenverlag, Bremen 1990, S. 38–57. * Oscar Sundara: ''Rolf Dieter Brinkmann'' (Serv, 2011, in English) * Ingo Sundmacher: ''Brinkmann meets Burroughs. Literatur und intermediale Postmoderne.'' In: ''Z. Zeitschrift für Kultur- und Geisteswissenschaften.'' H. 16, 1998. Fösse, Hannover S. 3–16.

External links

Short biography

www.brinkmann-wildgefleckt.de
Internet page to the monograph of Roberto Di Bella (see references): updates and materials to the work of Rolf Dieter Brinkmann and its reception.

signandsight.com

The Prague Post * ttp://www.praguepost.cz/night-and-day/books/9995-interview:-mark-terrill.html Short interview with Brinkmann's translator Mark Terrill (2011) The Prague Post

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brinkmann, Rolf Dieter 1940 births 1975 deaths People from Vechta People from Oldenburg (state) 20th-century German poets German male poets German-language poets 20th-century German male writers Road incident deaths in London