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Erich Fried

エーリッヒ・フリード

Erich Fried

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1921-05-06 （Vienna, Austria）
Died
1988-11-22 （Baden-Baden, West Germany） age 67
Nationality
Austrian, British
Languages
German, English
Religion
Judaism
Residence History
Vienna (birthplace, early life) → London (emigrated, main residence) → Baden-Baden (treatment, death)

Career

Occupations
poet, writer, translator, playwright, radio commentator
Active Years
1944-1988
Influenced By
Bertolt Brecht, T. S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas
Influenced
Later German-language political and contemporary poets, Young poets in Austria and Germany

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Drei Gebete aus London (Three Prayers from London)

1945 poetry

A short collection published soon after the war, containing poems reflecting exile in London and meditations resembling prayers.

exilefaithmemory of war

Liebesgedichte (Love Poems)

1979 poetry

A collection focused on love, noted for its direct language and emotional intensity; widely read.

lovehuman relationshipsintimacy
Translations
  • Love Poems (English translation, bilingual edition)

100 Gedichte ohne Vaterland (100 Poems Without a Country)

1978 poetry

A selection of politically and socially engaged poems questioning nationality and belonging.

politicsexilenationality
Translations
  • 100 Poems Without a Country (English translation)

Es ist was es ist (It is what it is)

1983 poetry

One of his late notable works, containing concise and candid poems about love and being.

loveexistencelanguage and meaning
Translations
  • Love Poems (includes translations of poems from this collection)

Bibliography

  • Drei Gebete aus London (1945)
  • Ein Soldat und ein Mädchen (1960)
  • Reich der Steine (1963)
  • Warngedichte (1964)
  • Überlegungen (1964)
  • Kinder und Narren (1965)
  • und Vietnam und (1966)
  • Anfechtungen (1967)
  • Die Beine der größeren Lügen (1969)
  • Poesiealbum (1969)
  • Unter Nebenfeinden (1970)
  • Die Freiheit den Mund aufzumachen (1972)
  • Höre Israel (1974)
  • So kam ich unter die Deutschen (1977)
  • 100 Gedichte ohne Vaterland (1978)
  • Liebesgedichte (1979)
  • Es ist was es ist (1983)
  • Um Klarheit (1985)
  • Mitunter sogar Lachen (1986)

Adaptations

  • Poems set by Hans Werner Henze in the song-cycle 'Voices' (1973)

Translations by Author

  • William Shakespeare (translated into German)
  • T. S. Eliot (translated into German)
  • Dylan Thomas (translated into German)

Translations of Works

  • Last Honours (English selection, 1968)
  • On Pain of Seeing (English translation, 1969)
  • 100 Poems Without a Country (English translation, 1978)
  • Love Poems (English translation, bilingual edition, 1991; revised 2011)
  • Children and Fools (selection of stories, English translation, 1993)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
direct, candid voicepolitically engaged poetryconcise, emotionally intense formulations about love and everyday life
Recurring Motifs
exile and identitycritique of war and politicslove and intimacylanguage and translation

Health

  • intestinal cancer
    1980年代後半
    Treated in the late 1980s and died in 1988; the illness curtailed his late creative activity.

Legacy

Erich Fried was an Austrian-born German-language poet and translator known for both political verse and love poetry; he translated major English-language authors into German. The Erich Fried Prize is named in his honour, and he left a lasting influence on contemporary German-language poetry.

Archives

  • Literaturhaus Wien (holds bibliographic/archival material)
  • Kensal Green Cemetery (grave and memorial)

In Popular Culture

  • Inclusion of his poems in musical settings (e.g., Henze's song-cycle) and anthologies

Quotes

  • Es ist was es ist. (It is what it is.)
    Source: Poem from 'Es ist was es ist' (1983)

Trivia

  • Emigrated to the UK after the 1938 Anschluss.
  • Helped arrange his mother's escape from Nazi-occupied Austria and assisted other Jews to reach the UK.
  • Worked as a political commentator for the BBC German Service from 1952 to 1968.
  • The Erich Fried Prize was established in his name after his death.