Born in 1947 in Trier, Ursula Krechel lived for many years in Frankfurt am Main, before moving to Berlin. She studied German literature, theatre and history at the University of Cologne, and wrote her doctoral dissertation on the film and theatre critic Herbert Ihering. While a student she worked as a journalist and drama adviser, creating plays for young offenders in prison.

Krechel, one of today’s most prolific German writers of poetry, drama, and narrative fiction, has been an elected member of PEN since 1982, and is the recipient of numerous prestigious literary grants and awards, including, in 1997, the Münchner Kinder- und Jugendtheaterpreis, and the Elisabeth-Langgässer-Preis. Internationally known through her presentations at literary festivals (Parma with Derek Walcott, Yves Bonnefoy and Tony Harrison, Solothurn with Alain Robbe-Grillet and Hans-Magnus Enzensberger), she has held Visiting Professorships in Italy, the UK and America.

Her many volumes of poetry include Nach Mainz! (1977), a collection of work reflecting Krechel’s engagement with feminism, Kakaoblau (1989), written for ‘Erwachsende’ (‘those growing up’) and, more recently, Stimmen aus dem harten Kern (2005), a poetic exploration of the essence and ideology of war. Her latest collection, Mittelwärts, published in 2006, is based on the author’s experience as a stranger in the suburbs of St Louis.

Much of her work has been translated, some into as many as six languages. Krechel will read from her poetry, and the presentation will be complemented by English translations.

ALL WELCOME

Sponsored by the Coffin Fund of the University of London