Hans Magnus Enzensberger

Interview

• "The wizard of numbers" (Milan, 02/10/97)

Biography

Born in Nuremberg in 1929, he studied German literature, philosophy and languages at the Universities of Elangen, Freiburg, Hamburg and the Sorbonne. In 1955 he was awarded a doctorate in philosophy. Essayist, journalist and critic, he is also considered one of Germany's most significant and interesting poets.

His poems are a bitter criticism of a German post-war society based on prosperity and a false sense of well-being, respectability and appearances, of a way of life which seems founded on respect for others, but in reality does not respect even itself.

His studies of literature have led him to translating poetry from English, French, Spanish, Italian and Swedish. In 1979 he translated Molière's The Misanthrope. He has received numerous prizes and honours, including the Georg Brüchner Prize and, in 1967, the Cultural Prize of the city of Nuremberg.

Bibliography

Among his works available in English:

• Poems for People who don't read Poems, Secker & Warburg, London, 1968.
• The Consciousness Industry, on literature, politics and the new media, first published in New Left Review vol. 64, November-December 1970.
• Selected Poems., Bloodaxe, 1994.
• Civil War, Granta, London, 1994.
• Kiosk, Bloodaxe, London, 1997.