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The German-Irish Poetry Project “Dánnerstag” that is based in the Centre for Irish-German Studies in the University of Limerick will be launched on Thursday September 2nd 2021 in the Goethe Institut, Dublin. With financial support from Foras na Gaeilge and gracious hosting by the Goethe Institut, this very special literary event marks the beginning of the project which continues until May 2022.
"Dánnerstag" means poem in Irish, and Donnerstag means Thursday in German, the day on which the videos showcasing the poetry will be made available to the public on the Centre for Irish-German Studies website.
The project leaders are Professor Gisela Holfter, Director of the Centre for Irish-German Studies in the University of Limerick, and Dr. Sorcha de Brún, School of English, Irish and Communication.
Amongst those attending the launch of “Dánnerstag” will be Ulrike Gasser, Director of the Goethe Institut; Robert Henneberg, Cultural Attaché to the German Embassy (who has been involved from the beginning); His Excellency Dr. Thomas Nader, Austrian Ambassador to Ireland; and Camille von Garnier of the Swiss Embassy.
Also in attendance at the launch will be Professor Joachim Fischer of the University of Limerick and Jean Monnet Chair in European Cultural Studies; Professor Alan Titley, scholar, author, translator and Professor Emeritus of University College Cork; Prof Eda Sagarra, former Chair of German and Pro-Chancellor of Trinity College Dublin and Eoin McEvoy, translator and author, University College Dublin, as well as various other invited guests.
“The Dánnerstag Poetry Project is a wonderful literary and research opportunity to explore and deepen the cultural and linguistic links between contemporary German language poetry and Irish language translation,” Dr. Sorcha de Brún explains. “Although translation has long been a feature of both German and Irish, the uniqueness of this project is the sheer span and range of poems which have been translated, from works by nineteenth century poets up to poems which have been recently composed.” Professor Gisela Holfter adds: “We were especially delighted to get so many wonderful contemporary German-speaking poets on board and that we are also able to showcase brand-new and unpublished poems. The support of the German, Austrian and Swiss Embassies for that has been brilliant.” The contemporary German language poets involved in the project, and whose works and their translations are artfully produced in the videos, include Jan Wagner, Ilma Rakusa, Gabrielle Alioth, Semier Insayif, René Böll, Kathrin Schmidt, Kerstin Hensel and Nadja Küchenmeister.
The poems have been translated by a number of Irish language translators, amongst them prolific translator and author Gabriel Rosenstock. The project also displays the wonderful work of esteemed poet and translator Máire Mhac an tSaoi. Professor Joachim Fischer also contributed to the translation of some of the classic poems, and Eoin McEvoy and Sorcha de Brún were amongst the translators as were academics from other Irish universities. In addition, several students of both Irish and German in the University of Limerick translated some of the poems.
In addition to contemporary poets, works by the renowned German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe form part of the project, as do works by Paul Celan, Hilde Domin, Heinrich Heine and Theodor Storm. These poems and their translations from the earlier periods will be made available to the public throughout the project. Dublin-based Jakob Lemme produced and subtitled the videos provided by the contemporary Austrian, German and Swiss poets. The project is funded by the German, Austrian and Swiss Embassies and by the DAAD.
The videos will be available for viewing on the first Thursday of every month on the Centre for Irish-German Studies webpage at https://ulsites.ul.ie/irishgerman and on the Centre’s social media sites. The classic poems will be made available each third Thursday in different formats