Thomas Kling
Encyclopedia
Life
Thomas Kling was born in Bingen am RheinBingen am Rhein
Bingen am Rhein is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.The settlement’s original name was Bingium, a Celtic word that may have meant “hole in the rock”, a description of the shoal behind the Mäuseturm, known as the Binger Loch. Bingen was the starting point for the...
, grew up in Hilden
Hilden
Hilden is a city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is situated in the District of Mettmann, west of Solingen and east of Düsseldorf on the right side of the Rhine. It is a middle sized industrial town with a forest and numerous attractions....
and went to school in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
. He studied Philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, Düsseldorf and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and lived in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
for a certain period. Since 1983 he presented his poems on public performances – first in Vienna, than in the Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
. Later he performed together with the jazz percussionist Frank Köllges.
Kling lived with his wife Ute Langanky, a painter, on the museum area of Hombroich (a former rocket station) near Neuss
Neuss
Neuss is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district and owes its prosperity to its location at the crossing of historic and modern trade routes. It is primarily known...
. In 2005 he died of lung cancer. He was buried in Neuss-Holzheim.
Poetry
Thomas Kling was an important poet in contemporary German literature. He was influenced by authors like Friederike MayröckerFriederike Mayröcker
Friederike Mayröcker is an Austrian poet.- Life :From 1946 to 1969 Mayröcker was an English teacher at several public schools in Vienna. In 1969 she took a release from working as a teacher and in 1977 she retired early.She started writing as a 15 year old...
, Ernst Jandl
Ernst Jandl
Ernst Jandl was an Austrian writer, poet, and translator.- Poetry :Influenced by Dada he started to write experimental poetry, first published in the journal "Neue Wege" in 1952....
, Paul Celan
Paul Celan
Paul Celan was a poet and translator...
, Hans Carl Artmann and Konrad Bayer
Konrad Bayer
Konrad Bayer was an Austrian writer and poet. A member of the Wiener Gruppe, he combined apparently irreconcilable elements—violence, hermeticism, pessimism, ecstasy, banality—and influences —into a bizarre linguistic solipsism which has held increasing fascination for German writers of...
. The structure and the layout of his poems were often dominated by the needs of his performances. He was member of the German PEN
International PEN
PEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....
-centre and of the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung
Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung
The Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung was founded on August 28, 1949—the 200th birthday of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe—in Paulskirche in Frankfurt...
(German Academy for Language and Poetry).
Awards
- 1986: 1. prize of the poetry convention of Northrhine-Westphalia in Düsseldorf
- 1989: Promotion Prize of Northrhine-Westphalia
- 1990: Rolf Dieter Brinkmann Grant of Cologne
- 1991: Promotion Prize of the arts circle in the Federal Association of German Industry
- 1993: Else Lasker Schüler Prize for Poetry
- 1997: Peter Huchel Prize
- 2001: Ernst Jandl Prize
- 2005: Poetry Prize of the Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf
Works
- der zustand vor dem untergang (the situation before the breakup), Düsseldorf 1977
- erprobung herzstärkender mittel (testing of heart strengthening means), Düsseldorf 1986
- geschmacksverstärker (flavour enhancer), Frankfurt am Main 1989
- verkehrsfunk (traffic message channel), 1989
- brennstabm (fuel rod / fuel rodz), Frankfurt am Main 1991
- nacht.sicht.gerät (night.vision.device), Frankfurt am Main 1993
- wände machn (making walls / makin walls), Münster 1994
- morsch (decayed), Frankfurt am Main 1996
- Itinerar (itinerary), Frankfurt am Main 1997
- Wolkenstein. Mobilisierun
' (claude stone. mobilisatio' , Münster 1997 - GELÄNDE camouflage (terrain camouflage), Münster 1997 (together with Ute Langanky)
- Fernhandel (long distance trade), Köln 1999
- Botenstoffe (messenger substrates), Köln 2001
- Sondagen (sondages), Köln 2002
- Auswertung der Flugdaten (analysis of flight data), Köln 2005
- Gesammelte Gedichte (collected poems), Köln 2006
Editor
- Friederike MayröckerFriederike MayröckerFriederike Mayröcker is an Austrian poet.- Life :From 1946 to 1969 Mayröcker was an English teacher at several public schools in Vienna. In 1969 she took a release from working as a teacher and in 1977 she retired early.She started writing as a 15 year old...
: Benachbarte Metalle, Frankfurt am Main 1998 - Sabine Scho: Thomas Kling entdeckt Sabine Scho, Hamburg [u.a.] 2001
- Sprachspeicher. 200 Gedichte auf deutsch vom achten bis zum zwanzigsten Jahrhundert, Köln 2001
Translations
- Gaius Valerius Catullus: Das Haar der Berenice, Ostfildern vor Stuttgart 1997
Literature
- Thomas Kling, München 2000.
- Thomas Kling – Karl-Heinrich Müller, Köln 2004.
- Thomas Kling ist tot. Notizen zu einem deutschen Dichter (In: Theo BreuerTheo BreuerTheo Breuer is a German poet, essayist, editor, translator and publisher.-Life and work:...
, Aus dem Hinterland. Lyrik nach 2000, Sistig/Eifel 2005, S. 101-114). - Hubert Winkels: Der Stimmen Ordnung. Über Thomas Kling, Köln 2005.