Psyche Running

Durs Grünbein was born in Dresden in 1962, and he now lives in Berlin and Rome. He is professor of poetics and aesthetics at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. He has written more than twenty-five books, including, most recently, Porcelain, also published by Seagull Books. Karen Leeder is a writer, critic and prize-winning translator of contemporary German literature including work by Durs Grünbein, Volker Braun, Michael Krüger, Evelyn Schlag and Raoul Schrott.

• Configured Night From: Der Misanthrop auf Capri: Historien / Gedichte (2005)The Misanthrope on Capri: Histories / PoemsThe Misanthrope on CapriA Colonist in OctodurusJulia LivillaFantasy on the Public Lavatories“Siv me amas”Epiphany with CentaursActiveFrom: Porzellan: Poem vom Untergang meiner Stadt (2005)Porcelain: Poem on the Downfall of my CityFrom: Strophen für übermorgen (2007)Verses for the Day after TomorrowChildhood in the DioramaNée WachtelWhat I amCrossing the AlpsThe AstronomerExaltations in SleepEcho will now say a word or twoMimosaFrom: Aroma: ein römisches Zeichenbuch (2010)Aroma: A Roman SketchbookAromaXIII (Little Sun Song)XIV (The Accident)XXIII (Lyceum)XLIX (Swarms of Starlings)Torso of PolyphemusBehind Trajan’s MarketRoman HousesAgaveFrom: Koloss im Nebel (2013)Colossus in the MistInterior with Owl ITeapot with Persimmon FruitDragonflies in DahomeyInspector KoboldCalypso DeepWhen no Credo is LeftIsland without SirensTurkish BathsInterior with Owl IIFrom: Cyrano oder Die Rückkehr vom Mond (2014).Cyrano or the Journey back from the MoonRiccioliCarnetPhocylidesIbn FirnasOenopides DescartesRabbi LeviEndymionHertzTacchiniPontormoFrom: Die Jahre im Zoo. Ein Kaleidoskop (2015)The Zoo Years. A KaleidoscopeThe Doctrine of PhotographyFrom: Zündkerzen (2017)SparkplugsFrom a Book of WeaknessesHotel PanamaPsyche RunningDécolletéCertain SpotsArtichokesTransitThe Aviary of PaintingThe Stillness torn apart at noonVacanciesPine CopseOn learning old VocabularyDangerous AbsencesSeven Pines ConferencierInner EmptinessKiosk by the SeaMisanthropic HumanistUnder the SurfaceThe ProjectorAsked what it isFrom: Äquidistanz (2022)EquidistanceNot the WoodpeckerExpressionist FilmEast-West-AxisSchlachtenseeDreilindenContemplation, clear as tearsIn Cold Arms of WaterLobus frontalis23rd August 1939Flea Market1962HypothesisLumièreQuantum FoamTheory of SignsEquidistanceFootnote to Myself

“Rendered in spikily musical tones by Leeder, Grünbein’s latest is full of difficult consolations and a sighing sort of absurdity. . . . These eloquent, angular poems are rich in thoughtful noticing and a refreshingly idiosyncratic unpacking of history, geography, and myth.”