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Jan Wagner (born in 1971 in Hamburg) lives in Berlin. He is a freelance poet, literary critic and translator (of, among others, Matthew Sweeney and Simon Armitage) and was from 1995 to 2003 co-editor of the international literary journal-in-a-box Die Außenseite des Elements (The Outside of the Element). Together with Björn Kuhligk he co-edited the anthology Lyrik von Jetzt. 74 Stimmen (Poetry of the Now. 74 Voices) (DuMont Literatur- und Kunstverlag 2003) and the book Der Wald im Zimmer. Eine Harzreise (The Forest in the Room. A Journey in the Harz) (Berliner Taschenbuch Verlag 2007).
A great narrator in the small form, he combines with virtuosity the everyday with the mythical, classical poetic forms with free improvisation.
His precise language and imagery and his effortless playing with forms have brought him many prizes and awards including the 2004 Anna Seghers Prize and the 2011 Kranichstein Literature Prize. In that same year he was also awarded the Fellowship of the German Academy in Rome (Villa Massimo).
Publications (selection):
Probebohrung im Himmel. Berlin-Verlag 2001.
Guerickes Sperling. Berlin-Verlag, 2004.
Achtzehn Pasteten. Berlin-Verlag, 2007.
Australien. Berlin-Verlag, 2010.