when you're not here

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

when you’re not here, you’re nowhere to be seen.
my face is washed + wrapped in clothes so
that nothing freezes in winter. your photo is
intentionally misplaced in the album, the table also
belongs to someone else: the body altar is clear.
behold: someone blind travels straight through my
aging hair and brings light + shifting wind


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.