Erika Burkart (8 February 1922 – 14 April 2010) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

writer, teacher and poet. She wrote poems and epic poems, and received international recognition. Burkart was the recipient of many awards, among them the Conrad-Ferdinand-Meyer-Preis, the

Gottfried-Keller-Preis The Gottfried-Keller-Preis, prix Gottfried-Keller, or premio Gottfried Keller is one of the oldest literary awards of Switzerland. The prize was created by Martin Bodmer and is named after the Swiss author Gottfried Keller. It is awarded every two ...

, the

Joseph-Breitbach-Preis Joseph-Breitbach-Preis (Joseph Breitbach Prize) is a literary prize awarded by the Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur Mainz (Academy of Sciences and Literature of Mainz) in Germany and the Joseph Breitbach Foundation. Established in 19 ...

, and the Wolfgang-Amadeus-Mozart-Preis. She was also awarded the Grand Prize of the Swiss Schiller Foundation, the only woman to have received the prize.

Life

Erika Burkart was born on 8 February 1922 in

Aarau Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the d ...

, and spent much of her life in Aristau. She trained as a primary school teacher, and taught in a number of schools before becoming a full-time writer in 1955. Burkart wrote twenty four collections of poetry over her life. Her debut poetry collection, ''Der dunkle Vogel'' (The Dark Bird), was published in 1953. Some of Burkart's poems were set to music by Rudolf Kelterborn and

Gottfried von Einem Gottfried von Einem (24 January 1918 – 12 July 1996) was an Austrian composer. He is known chiefly for his operas influenced by the music of Stravinsky and Prokofiev, as well as by jazz. He also composed pieces for piano, violin and organ. Bio ...

. Burkart also wrote eight prose works, which achieved international recognition. Her first novel ''Moräne'', published in 1970, was quoted in Alice Miller's book '' Poisonous Pedagogy''. Erika Burkart's literary estate is archived in the

Swiss Literary Archives The Swiss Literary Archives (SLA – ''Schweizerische Literaturarchiv'') in Bern collects literary estates in all four national languages of Switzerland (German, French, Italian and Romansh language). It is part of the Swiss National Library op ...

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

. Burkart died in Muri on 14 April 2010. She was married to writer Ernst Halter.

Awards

Burkart was the recipient of many awards. Burkart was awarded the Droste Prize in 1958, the Conrad-Ferdinand-Meyer-Preis in 1961, the J. P. Hebel Prize in 1978, and in 1990 both the Mozart Prize and the Gottfried Keller Prize. She won the Joseph Breitbach Prize in 2002. In 2005, she was awarded the Grand Schiller Prize by the Swiss Schiller Foundation, on the foundation's 100th anniversary. At the time of her death in 2010 she was the only woman to ever have been awarded the prize, and as the prize has not been awarded since 2012, this remains the case.

Works

Poetry books

* ''Der dunkle Vogel'', Tschudy Verlag, St. Gallen 1953 * ''Sterngefährten'', Tschudy Verlag, St. Gallen 1955 * ''Bann und Flug'', Tschudy Verlag, St. Gallen 1956 * ''Geist der Fluren'', Tschudy Verlag, St. Gallen 1958 * ''Die gerettete Erde'', Tschudy Verlag, St. Gallen 1960 * ''Mit den Augen der Kore'', Tschudy Verlag, St. Gallen 1962 * ''Ich lebe'', Artemis Verlag, Zurich 1964 * ''Die weichenden Ufer'', Artemis Verlag, Zurich 1967 * ''Fernkristall. Ausgewählte Gedichte'', Verlag an der Hartnau, Tobel (TG) 1972 * ''Die Transparenz der Scherben'', Benziger Verlag, Zurich 1973 * ''Das Licht im Kahlschlag'', Artemis Verlag, Zurich 1977 * ''Augenzeuge. Ausgewählte Gedichte'', Artemis Verlag, Zurich 1978 * ''Die Freiheit der Nacht'', Artemis Verlag, Zurich 1981 * ''Sternbild des Kindes'', Artemis Verlag, Zurich 1984 * ''Schweigeminute'', Artemis Verlag, Zurich 1988 * ''Ich suche den blauen Mohn'', Pflanzengedichte (Blumenbilder Max Löw), GS-Verlag, Basel 1989 * ''Die Zärtlichkeit der Schatten'', Ammann Verlag, Zurich 1991 * ''Stille fernster Rückruf'', Ammann Verlag, Zurich 1997 * ''Langsamer Satz'', Ammann Verlag, Zurich 2002 * ''Ortlose Nähe'', Ammann Verlag, Zurich 2005 * ''Geheimbrief'', Ammann Verlag, Zurich 2009 * ''Das späte Erkennen der Zeichen'', Weissbooks.w Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2010 * ''Nachtschicht / Schattenzone'', Weissbooks.w Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2011, together with Ernst Halter

English translation

* Nightshift / An Area of Shadows (Spuyten Duyvil, 2013), translated by Marc Vincenz, * A Late Recognition of the Signs (Spuyten Duyvil, 2016), translated by Marc Vincenz,

Prose works

* ''Moräne'', novel, Walter Verlag, Olten 1970 * ''Jemand entfernt sich'', stories, Benziger Verlag, Zürich 1972 * ''Rufweite'', Artemis Verlag, Zürich 1975 * ''Der Weg zu den Schafen'', novel, Artemis Verlag, Zürich 1979 * ''Die Spiele der Erkenntnis'', Artemis Verlag, Zürich 1985 * ''Das Schimmern der Flügel'', Ammann Verlag, Zürich 1994 * ''Grundwasserstrom . Aufzeichnungen'', Ammann Verlag, Zürich 2000 * ''Die Vikarin'', Ammann Verlag, Zürich 2006

References

External links

Literary estate of Erika Burkart
in the archive database HelveticArchives of the

Swiss National Library The Swiss National Library (, , , ) is the national library of Switzerland. Part of the Federal Office of Culture, it is charged with collecting, cataloging and conserving information in all fields, disciplines, and media connected with Switzerla ...

.
Publications by and about Erika Burkart
in the catalogue Helveticat of the

. * * "Fragments, Shards, and Visions," translations by Marc Vincenz & Andrea Scrima.
Hyperion: On the Future of Aesthetics
', Vol VII, No 1 (2013). {{DEFAULTSORT:Burkart, Erika 1922 births 2010 deaths People from Aarau Swiss poets in German 20th-century Swiss poets Swiss women poets 20th-century Swiss women writers