Crowscroak over Escalator

Adolf Endler has put older, obscurely published poems and new unpublished poems together in chronological order, to create a »documentation of the sometimes winding path my life has taken - the early and the later works provide unspoken commentary on one other«.

»One thing is certain in the midst of all this chaos - basically I always wanted to be a lyricist - and nothing else«, stated Adolf Endler in his »self-presentation« on the occasion of his admission to the Darmstadt Academy of Language and Literature, with his own special blend of ironic understatement. This is remarkable as well as plausible for someone who has published a fair amount of books in prose from his mysterious »novel works in thirty-six volumes«. Endler began his career as a lyricist in the 1950s, and throughout his life he has written and published poems. His light-heartedness and playful expressions - »He who cannot perform magic is lost« (Ludwig Hohl) - has been valued for many years, but it took a relatively long time before the extraordinary sense of form in Endler`s unique tone was finally recognised. Jens Jessen praised his last volume of poetry as the »truly most significant lyrical work in the latter part of the 20th century«.

»A collector and creator of language possessing exceptional energy and imaginativeness.«
Peter Demetz

Adolf Endler
born in 1930 in Düsseldorf, moved to the GDR in 1955, was banished from the GDR authors` association in 1979. Lyricist, prose author, essayist. He has received many renowned literary awards, including: Bremen Literature Prize, Peter Huchel Prize, Critics` Prize SWR Top List, Brothers Grimm Prize awarded by the town of Hanau, Honorary Award presented by the Schiller Foundation.