was the table, was the chair
Bradley Schmidt translating the German of Ulrike Almut Sandig
Excerpted from streumen, Anomalous Press Chapbook Contest Notable
click here for the German text
click here to read about the full project
was the table, was the chair, sat a child
in the kitchen and ate, was it still in the hall,
did no one wander around and count their own
steps, the window cross whiter than usual
around evening, small animals in flight
transected the yard and dust lay on the glass and
a child was very still and something, which occurred
with a bolt, was hot at the base and faded,
burst, a child opened its eyes
wide and could, it could not find anything.
Bradley Schmidt grew up in rural Kansas, completed a B.A. in German Studies at a small liberal arts college there, studied German Literature and Theology in Marburg, and started a doctoral project on Schleiermacher in Halle before completing a masters in translation studies in Leipzig. He lives and works in Leipzig as a translator and lecturer. His translations of contemporary German prose and poetry have appeared widely online and in print.
Ulrike Almut Sandig was born in Großenhain (GDR) in 1979 and now lives in Leipzig and Berlin. She started publishing her poetry by pasting poems onto construction fences and spreading them on flyers and free post cards. After completing her Magister in Religious Studies and Modern Indology, she subsequently graduated from the German Creative Writing Program Leipzig. Three volumes of her poetry have been published to date. Previous publications include radio plays and audio-books of poetry and pop music.
