Dieter Leisegang: Sustaining a Private Poet

full name / name of organization: 
Katherine Weiss/ South Atlantic Modern Language Association
contact email: 

Despite Dieter Leisegang's rich oeuvre, the poet rarely sought to have his works published. Rather, his brother, Jolei, for the most part, saw to it that his poetry, aphorisms and miniatures were printed both during Dieter's lifetime and thereafter.

In addition to the publication of his work in the volume Lauter letzter Worte (1973), and in various anthologies, Dieter Leisegang has been the subject of the radio program, "Am besten im Fruehling Sterben," broadcast by Suedwestrundfunk (SWR 2) on November 12, 2013 in Germany.

His presence, too, in American academia recently has been rekindled.

This "working papers" session seeks to explore the importance of sustaining the private poetry, aphorisms and miniatures of Dieter Leisegang and/or other German writers who have been neglected in America academia.

Please email your abstracts of no more than 250 words to Katherine Weiss (weisk01@etsu.edu) by June 1, 2014. Working papers should be ready to distribute to other members of the session by October 23, 2014.

SAMLA 86 Conference will be held during November 7-9, 2014 at the Marriott Atlanta Buckhead Hotel & Conference Center, Atlanta, Georgia. The conference's Special Focus is "Sustainability and the Humanities."