Jürgen Theobaldy & Martin Grzimek

Jürgen Theobaldy is a precise observer. His poems combine the political experiences of his generation with the non-academic gesture of personal experiences in a socially turbulent, increasingly pop-cultural environment. Sensual and concrete, close to colloquial language, they bring to mind a youth in proletarian Mannheim, Sundays on soccer pitches, love in times of demonstrations against nuclear armament, strikes and job bans.

With his own poetic self-reflection, Theobaldy is today regarded as an important representative of the so-called New Subjectivity. In the decades that followed, he expanded his approach to include an examination of classical poetry from Sappho and Goethe to Heym and Trakl. His poems reach far out into the world and society – a lyrical event of everyday urgency!

The writer Martin Grzimek talks to Jürgen Theobaldy about his new volume of poetry and honors him on his 80th birthday.

In cooperation with the UNESCO City of Literature