German places and poetry and my humble attempts at translation- oh and yes, politics!
E. T. A. Hoffmann reshaped literary imagination by turning terror inward. His stories fractured reality, destabilized reason, and made the mind itself the stage of fear and wonder. Through translation, his influence transformed English fantasy, horror, and psychological fiction, expanding narrative depth and redefining how literature explores consciousness.
Birth of E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776–1822) – The Writer Who Taught English to Fear the Mind
January 24 was the birthday of Hedwig “Vicki” Baum (1888-1960). The Viennese-born writer is not widely known by name in the U.S. though it ought to be: her name is on over a dozen Hollywood movies, the biggest success of which was MGM’s smash 1932 adaptation of Grand Hotel, along with many remakes and sequels. […]
Vicki Baum: “Grand Hotel” and Beyond
Born December 21, 1917, Heinrich Böll shaped postwar English literary thought through translation. His restrained realism offered a language for guilt, conscience, and responsibility after catastrophe, rejecting heroics and abstraction. By accounting for damage rather than dramatizing it, Böll taught English prose how moral seriousness can emerge through clarity, silence, and ethical restraint.
Birth of Heinrich Böll (1917–1985) – The Conscience That Entered English Through Postwar Prose
Born in 1797, Heinrich Heine reshaped English poetry without writing a line in English. Through translation and song, his lyrical brevity, irony, and musical clarity taught English verse to balance feeling with skepticism—showing that poetry could sing sweetly while smiling knowingly at itself.
Birth of Heinrich Heine (1797–1856) – The European Lyric Who Recast English Romantic Irony
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