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a web-serial by Harry Kuhner

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-Samuel Greenberg Austro-American Poet

von Herbert Kuhner am 23. Januar 2023 um 16:50
Veröffentlicht in: Allgemein, Biographic, Poetry, Text

 

Samuel Greenberg
Austro-American Poet
Edited by Herbert Kuhner & Ecevit Ari
Translated into German by Ecevit Ari
Forthcoming: Edition PEN im Löcker Verlag, Vienna

 

Introduction by Herbert Kuhner

 

In 1903 a boy of seven left Vienna with his family for American shores. Samuel Greenberg crossed the Atlantic on a steamer and set foot on Ellis Island. After going through the rigmarole of customs and medical examinations, the family landed in New York Harbor. Young Samuel’s next location was the Lower East Side. There he attended Hebrew School and assisted his father in embroidering gold and silver brocade for religious artifact.

This boy who grew up in poverty and had the added disadvantage of having delicate health. However, these disadvantages did not dim the brightness of his ambition. He learned English quickly, but he not only wanted to speak it well, he wanted to write in it.

Yes, Samuel mastered the second language he spoke. And in spite of his scanty education, he more than achieved his ambition.

His young and short life was spent in and out of charity hospitals, and after his premature death at the age of 23, he left reams of manuscripts, as well multiple graphics.

The poems of Samuel Greenberg were not written in ideal conditions. The achievements of his short life serve as an example of human endeavor and can only bring about admiration.

Samuel Greenberg selfportrait

The poet Samuel Greenberg gradually achieved a reputation and was published by such literary stalwarts as James McLaughlin of New Directions.

I would like to make comparisons. The poet Alter Brody was born in the Ukraine, came to the United States in 1903 at the age of 8. The places of his childhood were the Lower East side and Brooklyn He too wrote in English. Brody acquired a reputation, published a book of poetry, A Family Album and Lamentations: Four Folk‑Plays of the American Jew and then fell into obscurity. Anthony Rudolf of Menard Press sent me a poem card with The Holy Ledger.  I was struck, by Brody’s eloquence and went about collecting his poetic works.

Like Greenberg, I too was born in Vienna. The year was 1935. In July of 1939, my parents left with me for London. I arrived in New York in 1940.

Greenberg, Brody and I were not born into English, but rather came into it. When you begin a language at a very young age, your approach differs from those who were born into it. You do not take it for granted and that may enhance your use of it.

We have included a selection of Greenberg’s graphics

Greenberg’s poems are suffused with the emotion of discovery, as well the element of color.

Samuel’s poetic work was written before the Holocaust. Thus, we can
ascertain this young poet’s cultural and historical view of Austria, the United States and the world in general before calamitous event.

Here is Samuel Greenberg’s poetry in the original English and in German translation by Ecevit Ari, poet, translator and medical doctor.

Ecevit and I take pride in introducing Samuel Greenberg, the Austro-American poet, to poetry lovers in the land of his birth, as well as to all poetry advocates in the German-speaking world.

 

Herbert Kuhner
Samuel Greenberg

 

1903 verliess ein siebenjähriger Bub mit seiner Familie Wien Richtung Vereinigte Staaten. Samuel Greenberg überquerte den Grossen Teich auf einem Dampfer und landete auf Ellis Island an. Nachdem die Familie den Zoll und die ärztlichen Untersuchungen durchlaufen hatte, landeten sie schliesslich im Hafen von New York.

Nach der Landung im Hafen von New York war der Standort des jungen Samuel die Lower East Side. Dort besuchte er die Hebräische Schule und half seinem Vater, Gold- und Silberbrokat für religiöse Gegenstände zu besticken.

Dieser Bub, der in Armut aufwuchs, hatte den Nachteil einer schwächlichen Gesundheit. Diese Nachteile trübten jedoch nicht den Glanz seines Ehrgeizes. Er lernte schnell Englisch, wollte aber nicht nur gut sprechen, sondern auch gut schreiben können.

Ja, Samuel beherrschte die zweite Sprache, die er sprach. Und trotz seiner spärlichen Ausbildung hat er sein Ziel mehr als erreicht.
Sein junges, kurzes Leben verbrachte er in und ausserhalb von Wohltätigkeitskrankenhäusern. Nach seinem vorzeitigen Tod im Alter von 23 Jahren hinterliess er unzählige Manuskripte und mehrere Graphiken.

Die Gedichte von Samuel Greenberg wurden nicht unter idealen Bedingungen geschrieben. Die Errungenschaften seines kurzen Lebens dienen als Beispiel menschlichen Strebens und können nur Bewunderung hervorrufen.

Greenberg‘s poetisches Werk wurde vor dem Holocaust geschrieben. Somit können wir die kulturelle und historische Sicht dieses jungen Dichters auf Österreich, die Vereinigten Staaten und die Welt im Allgemeinen vor diesem katastrophalen Ereignis.

Greenberg erlangte nach und nach einen guten Ruf und wurde von literarischen Persönlichkeiten wie James McLaughlin von New Directions entdeckt und veröffentlicht.

Ich stelle Vergleiche an. Der Dichter Alter Brody wurde in der Ukraine geboren und kam 1903 im Alter von 8 Jahren in die Vereinigten Staaten. Die Orte seiner Kindheit waren die Lower East Side und Brooklyn. Auch er schrieb auf Englisch. Brody erlangte  einen guten Ruf, veröffentlichte einen Gedichtband: A Family Album, weiters  Lamentations: Four Folk‑Plays of the American Jew, und geriet dann in Vergessenheit.

Anthony Rudolf von Menard Press hat mir eine Gedichtkarte mit The Holy Ledger/Das heilige Rechnungsbuch geschickt. Ich war beeindruckt von Brodys sprachlichem Scharfsinn und sammelte seine kompletten poetischen Werke.

Wie Greenberg wurde auch ich in Wien geboren. Es war das Jahr 1935. Im Juli 1939 reisten meine Eltern mit mir nach London ab. Ich kam schliesslich 1940 in New York an.

Greenberg, Brody und ich wurden nicht ins Englische hineingeboren, sondern kamen zufällig dazu. Wenn Sie eine Sprache in einem sehr jungen Alter beginnen, unterscheidet sich Ihr Ansatz von denen, die in diese Sprache hineingeboren worden sind. Sie halten es nicht für selbstverständlich, und das kann Ihre Verwendung der Sprache verbessern.

Wir haben eine Greenbergs Auswahl von Greenbergs Graphiken beigefügt.
Gedichte sind erfüllt von der Emotion der Entdeckung sowie vom Element Farbe.

Hier ist Samuel Greenbergs Poesie in der englischen Originalfassung und in deutscher Übersetzung von Ecevit Uzunkaya. Mein Freund Ecevit, Dichter und Arzt, wurde in Wien geboren und ist türkischer Abstammung. Daher ist er ein Mann, der zwei Kulturen eng verbunden ist.

Ecevit und ich sind stolz darauf, den österreichisch-amerikanischen Dichter Samuel Greenberg, den Liebhabern der Poesie, in seinem Geburtsland sowie allen Vertretern der Poesie im deutschsprachigen Raum vorzustellen.

****

Petar Tyran, Herbert Kuhner, Editors
Breaking Down Borders – Überwinden wir Grenzen – Rušimo Granice
Edition PEN im Löcker Verlag, Vienna, 2022

 Alter Brody
Ghetto-Zwielicht
Gesammelte Gedichte
Herbert Kuhner, Editor
Translated by Heinrich Eggerth & Ursula Gerhart
Edition Pen im Löcker Verlag, Vienna, 2018

 Penny’s poetry page

George J. Dance: Alter Brody

 

Alter Brody

 

Alter Brody (1895-1981)         Courtesy Jewish Theater Austria.

 

There was a renewal of interest in Brody’s poetry in the 1970s, when his work was included in 2 anthologies of Jewish poetry: a 1974 collection edited by Daniel Walden, and an anthology in 1980 edited by Anthony Rudolf and Howard Schwartz. Rudolph also wrote an essay on the poet, „Who is Alter Brody?“ That in turn led to his discovery by an Austrian-based editor, Herbert Kuhner, who has been promoting Brody’s work, including compiling his collected poems. „This great poet is waiting to assume the place in American and world literature reserved for him,“ Kuhner has stated. „I have a feeling that we’re going to help get him there.“

-Democracy in Action

von Herbert Kuhner am 23. November 2022 um 17:42
Veröffentlicht in: Poetry, Polemics

Democracy in Action

It is democratic to refuse to wear a facemask.
It is democratic to refuse to be vaccinated.

It is not democratic to be born without being asked.

If I had been asked, I would have said “no thanks!”

I am organizing a movement to make birth democratic.
The fetus should be asked whether it wants to be born or not.
If this comes to be, unlimited population expansion
will be a thing of the past.

Scientists who favor mask wearing and forced inoculations
must be brought in tow.

Instead of coming at us with face coverings and syringes,
they should concentrate their efforts on bringing democracy
to the womb and the maternity ward.

It stands to reason that my compatriots in this undertaking
will be the anti-mask and the anti-vaccine factions.

I already see them galloping towards maternity centers
with masks held high and syringes at the ready.

 

– Herbert Kuhner

 

 

-Jehovah & Job Redux

von Herbert Kuhner am 22. September 2022 um 16:06
Veröffentlicht in: Allgemein, Poetry, Polemics, Translation

Jehovah & Job Redux
Herbert Kuhner, Theodor Kramer Prize Laureate

Willy Verkauf-Verlon

Willy Verkauf-Verlon, artist and poet had a peripatetic life, which took him from Austria (in 1938) to Britain, Palestine and back to Austria again. The poems reflect his Jewish odyssey with incision and humor. They accurately depict post-war Austria and the world in general as viewed by a Jewish individualist and non-conformist.

 

Willy Verkauf (André Verlon, 1917 – 1994) click here

In 1994 I suggested to Willy that I do a bilingual collection of his poems. He was delighted agreed to help me on the project and I set to work on Seiltänzer/Tightrope Walker. Peter Malina, who shared my enthusiasm, added a detailed afterword.

Willy sent me a selection of new poems shortly before his death that same year. I added some to my collection and sent copies Dr. Wolfgang Neugebauer of the Documentation Center of Austrian Resistance and to Konstantin Kaiser of the Theodor Kramer Society, which was established to promote Austrian exile authors and those who opposed National Socialism.

“We intend to publish your Willy Verkauf-Verlon book with your translations in the spring of 2014.”
– Konstantin Kaiser of the Theodor Kramer Verlag, Sept. 25, 2013

My friend David Axelrod proof read my English translations at Dr. Kaiser’s behest. “Harry – Thank you for letting me learn more about Willy. These fine poems are sensitively and skillfully translated by you. The commentary (by Peter Malina) helps open Willy both biographically and artistically.”
– David B. Axelrod, Writers Ink Press, 25.09.2013

In 2015 a book containing poems by Willy Verkauf Verlon was indeed published, but it was not the Kuhner-Malina: Seiltänzer/Tightrope Walker.
Auch die Worte haben Grenzen, a monolingual collection of poetry by Willy Verkauf-Verlon, edited Konstantin Kaiser appeared in 2015
by the Theodor Kramer Verlag .

I received a letter from Konstantin Kaiser, dated May 29, 2018. “The (Willy) Verkauf -Verlon bilingual book is not representative as a publication. – I do not know how we could distribute this book.”
– K.K.

On July 9, 2022, I received the following message:
“You have no right to tell me what I should do or to be angry when I don’t do what you think I should do. We don’t have a contract and I have helped you over the years. Show some consideration!
– K.K.

 

King of the Hill

I am l am glad that there are those
who are capable and do good cultural work.
I consider them as my brothers and sisters,
and I try to act accordingly.

My attitude does not match your attitude.
You want to be King of the Hill
and you intend to throw down anyone
who might be a threat to your regnum.

You plotted to cancel out one of my projects
so that you could create one of your own
and substitute it for mine – which you did!

Among the tasks I have chosen
is promoting Austrian culture,
by translating poetry, with the emphasis
on those, who like me, experienced
Third Reich barbarity.

I do this for the sake of doing it.
I am not in competition.

 

Kaiser had previously been publishing the Kramer Society’s books with other publishers. I told him: “Do your own books! I brought him Dr. Johannes Diethart, publisher of books and a literary journal under the logo of Österreichisches Literaturforum

Diethart showed him the ropes, and they worked together until Kaiser said goodbye to Diethart without saying goodbye.

 

Background to Kaiser as Publisher

But the antics do not begin here. Armin Wallas had Staub von den Stadten by Anna Krommer set and announced in his Mnemosyne catalogue.

Guess who published this book, getting the material from the author, and beating Wallas to the draw!

 

An Icy Wind

An icy wind
does not make you giddy
like a sirocco.
It aims at your heart
and blows at high speed
to get at that organ.

Better take cover
when that wind
has you in its path!
If you stand fast
it will cut you to the quick.

 

 

Here’s my goodbye:

It was nice knowing you
before I got to know you.

 

Tarantel to the Rescue!

The Kuhner/Malina book may have been cancelled out temporarily – but NOT permanently!

Willy Verkauf-Verlon: Seiltänzer/Tightrope-Walker appeared in Edition Tarantel in 2019.

Redaktion Tarantel
 Vivariumstraße 8/4/18
1020 Wien
tarantel-wien@gmx.at

Gerald Grassl published this essential book.

104 Seiten/pages €12,-

 

Peter and I say thank you to our rescuer


and I am sure that Willy joins us!

 

 

Exiled By the Exile Library

My friend and colleague Dr. Armin A. Wallas died on May 30th of 2003.
The Austrian scholar, writer, editor and publisher specialized on Austrian-Jewish literature.
(Dr. Wallas published my bilingual collections of poetry by Else Keren,
Stella Rotenberg and Else Keren under his Mnemosyne imprint.)

I wrote to Dr. Ursula Seeber, Director of the Exile Library, requesting a commemorative event for Dr. Wallas. A reply was not forthcoming. I tried to contact Dr. Seeber by phone, and when I finally managed to reach her, she rendered me a verbal refusal and suggested I contact Dr. Heinz Lunzer Director of the Literaturhaus in Vienna. Da capo! When I finally reached him by phone, I received my second oral refusal.
 

Deliberate Tactic

Not providing a written reply to request
was not due to a breach of etiquette,
but rather a deliberate tactic.
There should be no record of the refusal.

 

– Herbert Kuhner

-Utter Foolishness

von Herbert Kuhner am 11. Juli 2022 um 19:51
Veröffentlicht in: Allgemein, Polemics, Politics, Text

Utter Foolishness

Historian Ian Kershaw claims that Hitler’s appreciation of Wagner’s operas was more induced by the dramatic scenography of the productions he attended, rather than by the music. These productions of the Vienna Opera House consisted of visual, as well as musical extravaganzas. Indeed later Nazi rallies were staged like Wagner operas to a background music by Wagner.

Coming to the conclusion that Hitler’s love of Wagner was more visual than auditory is absurd. Obviously, he spent hours and hours listening, as well as viewing. Wagner’s music was part of this mass murderer’s makeup.Does that somehow soften his monstrous crimes? Hitler, like all mass murderers, was born on Planet Earth.In describing him, accuracy must be adhered to. His musical tastes do not in any way lessen the criminality of his actions.

– Herbert Kuhner

-Trump and DeSantis

von Herbert Kuhner am 7. Juli 2022 um 18:23
Veröffentlicht in: Allgemein, Poetry, Polemics, Politics

Trump and DeSantis

 

Whatever you do
don’t get caught between
Al Capone and Bugs Moran.
In a gang war there’s no such thing
as an innocent bystander
who can survive.
It’s dog eat dog
plug or be plugged
rub out or be rubbed out.

You have a choice.
You’ve got to throw your lot in
with one or the other.
But there’s no lesser of two evils.
Both Capone and Moran think nothing
of doing children in
if necessary.

Better hurry
and make your decision
unless you want to end up in a plot
six-foot under.
It’s either Capone or Moran
and there’s no two ways about it.

Turn your fedora brim down
and your coat collar up
put on your black gloves
and with gat in shoulder holster
and chopper in violin case
go out for a night on the town.

Just light your butt
and squeeze the trigger.
Shoot first
and don’t ask questions later.
The Boss knows what he’s doing.
Keep your nose clean
and your lip buttoned
or you might find yourself
at the bottom of the Wabash.

There’s still one hope
of going straight
and leaving a life of crime behind.
After tiring of massacres
Al Capone and Bugs Moran
might get together
for a Havana and a beer

 

– Herbert Kuhner

 

 

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watchlist to click

Herbert Kuhner ist Übersetzer von neun Sammlungen österreichischer Lyrik, darunter Austrian Poetry Today / Österreichische Lyrik heute. Schocken Books, New York; Carinthian Slovenian Poetry, Hermagoras Verlag, Klagenfurt / Slavica Publishers, Columbus, Ohio; Hawks and Nightingales: Current Burgenland Croatian Poetry, Braumüller Verlag, Wien / Slavica Publishers, Columbus, Ohio.

Contact

Prof. Herbert Kuhner
Writer/Poet/Translator
Gentzgasse 14/4/11
1180 Vienna
Austria
emails: herbert.kuhner@chello.at
T +43 (0)1 4792469
Mob +43 (0)676 6705302 (new)


see also:
wienerblut (third reich recycled)
www.harrykuhner.at (Harry´s Memoir)

A Review of
Harry Kuhners Jazz Poetry
click for more information

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excerpt: Assembly-Line Prince click picture to find out more...                  

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