Event: June 2017
Sun
18/6/17
11:00 AM
2017 Berlin Poetry Lecture: John Burnside Where executives would never want to tamper?
The 2017 Berlin Poetry Lecture is being given by the Scottish poet and novelist John Burnside (born 1955 in Dunfermline). In his lecture entitled ‘Where the executive would never want to tamper?’ Burnside develops his poetological ideas in response to – and disgreeing with – the famous line by W.H. Auden “Poetry makes nothing happen”. For Burnside poetry is an essential part of being human. It teaches us to use all of our abilities equally and leads to a more comprehensive understanding of things. In this sense, it is also a political instrument which is desperately necessary in a time when “a crazy king is sitting in the palace and the waters are rising all around us”. Burnside firmly rejects the rising tide of nationalism and xenophobia; at the same time, the lecture is a powerful plea for poetry as a practical form of responsible thought and action. ‘Where the executive would never want to tamper?’ is being published by Wallstein Verlag (€ 13.90) for the event in a bilingual English-German edition with a German translation by Iain Galbraith as ‘Wo die Exekutive ihre Finger einzieht?‘.
The lecture will be delivered in English
Project leader: Matthias Kniep
Akademie der Künste
Plenary Chamber
Pariser Platz 4, 10117 Berlin
Entrance fee:
6/4 €
Tickets online