Ulrike Draesner

Ulrike Draesner Foto: Amsel

Richard Pietraß wrote of the poet, novelist and essayist Ulrike Draesner (born 1962, Munich) that she has her “finger on the wounds of modernity”. In 1995 her first book of poems, “gedächtnisschleifen” (memory loops) was published. In it, the author deals exactingly with personal and social histories, construing linguistically shrewd and complex networks. The publications which have appeared since, in poetry and prose, take a testing look at contemporary Germany and its historical development, and make pointed observations on advances in science.

Draesner concluded her studies in German and English Philology and Philosophy in Oxford and Munich, where she received her PhD in 1992 with a study on Eschenbach’s “Parzival”. She has received numerous awards for her works, most recently the Joachim Ringelnatz Prize for poetry. Draesner translates from English and French, including writers such as Gertrude Stein, Hilda Doolittle and Louise Glück. In March of this year her novel “Sieben Sprünge vom Rand der Welt” (Seven Jumps from the End of the Earth) will be published.

Publications (selected)

Gedächtnisschleifen. (Memory Loops) Poems, Luchterhand 1995
Sieben Sprünge vom Rand der Welt (Seven Jumps from the End of the Earth), Luchterhand 2014