100 Poems Without a Country

by Erich Fried

Always aware that he was living in an alien culture, these poems from Erich Fried (1921–1988) reflect the sensitivities of a Jew who could not accept an Israel that persecuted others; and who was grateful to the country that had given him shelter and protection from the Nazis despite the great number of matters that made him unsettled in England. Although Fried moved between two cultural worlds, he never lost touch with his native tongue and its literature. Collected here are moving and questioning poems about the Holocaust as well as his work on Vietnam and Chile, which illustrates his ability to combine depth of feeling with a strong grasp of political realties.

Genres: Poetry

158 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Erich Fried was an Austrian-born poet, writer and translator of Jewish descent. He initially became known to a broader public in both Germany and Austria for his political poetry, and later for his love poems. As a writer he mostly wrote plays and short novels. He also translated works by different English writers from English into German, most notably works by William Shakespeare.

He was born in Vienna, Austria but fled to England after the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938. He settled in London and adopted British Nationality in 1949. His first official visit back to Vienna was in 1962.

During the war, he did casual work as a librarian and a factory hand. He arranged also for his mother to leave Nazi occupied Austria, as well as helping many other Jews to come to the UK. He joined Young Austria, a left-wing emigrant youth movement, but left in 1943 in protest at its growing Stalinist tendencies.

From 1952 to 1968 he worked as a political commentator for the BBC German Service. He translated works by Shakespeare, T. S. Eliot and Dylan Thomas, and Sylvia Plath.

He published several volumes of poetry as well as radio plays and a novel. His work was sometimes controversial, including attacks on the Zionist movement and support for left-wing causes. His work was mainly published in the West, but in 1969, a selection of his poetry was published in the GDR poetry series Poesiealbum, and his Dylan Thomas translations were published in that same series in 1974. The composer Hans Werner Henze set two of Fried's poems for his song-cycle Voices (1973).

In 1982 he regained his Austrian nationality, though he also retained the British nationality he had adopted in 1949. He died of intestinal cancer in Baden-Baden, West Germany, in 1988 and is buried in Kensal Green cemetery, London.

An Austrian literary prize is named after him - the Erich Fried Prize.

Source: wikipedia.com

Reviews

[Bahman Bahman · Rating 3 out of 5]

man albate tarjomeye farsie bargozideye she'rash o khoondam.baziash ghashang bood

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I keep this by my bed. He is my conscience and my inspiration

[John Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I enjoy socio-political poetry when it wears a human face, I fear Fried's poetry is all tell and no show. He states opinions without ambiguity. All-in-all, these poems feel a bit forced and rough.

[Pelangi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sehr schöne Gedichte. Sehr politisch

[Benjamin Fasching-Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

this poet cranked 'em out, and decades later is pretty hit or miss. the anti-vietnam stuff is rough. the pro-palestinian stuff is nice, coming from a holocaust survivor.

[Olaf · Rating 5 out of 5]

my favourite poet.