This collection of Trakl’s essential poetry contains the two books published in his lifetime, Gedichte ('Poems’, 1913) and Sebastian im Traum ('Sebastian in a Dream’, 1914), together with the later poems published in the magazine Der Brenner which might have formed the nucleus of a third collection.His starkly beautiful, musical poems are rightly regarded as being among the early twentieth century’s most original poetry. From a life marred by drug addiction and breakdowns, he created work of great depth and power, brought hauntingly to life in Margitt Lehbert’s close and sympathetic versions.Georg Trakl (1887-1914) was born in Salzburg, Austria, where he lived apart from spells in Vienna. After qualifying as a pharmacist he spent his year of military service in the Innsbruck garrison hospital pharmacy. In the wake of the Battle of Grodek, he died of a drug overdose in a military hospital in Krakow.Margitt Lehbert was born in Geneva, Switzerland, to German parents in 1957. She grew up in the United States and Germany, studied in Konstanz and Iowa City, and translates into German as well as English. In 2006 she founded Edition Rugerup, which publishes mostly poetry in translation. She lives in south Sweden.
Following in the wake of Will Stone's 2005 translations for Arc, Anvil now publish Margitt Lehbert's complete new versions of Austrian Poet George Trakl's expressionist poems, his 'footsteps through a fog of blood'. A haunting collection, beautifully produced by Anvil.
Josephine Balmer
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