As part of the annual program of literary events of the fair, a meeting with the poet and translator Alyosha Prokopiev took place on June 26, 2025 in Berlin: "DARK PLACES by Georg Trakl. "Brother and sister tremble in a deserted park".
Alyosha Prokopyev has been studying the poetry of Georg Trakl for over thirty years. His recent publications in the journals Articulation, Berlin.Berega, and the soon-to-be-published Perevod journal reveal unexpected aspects of Trakl's poetics, help to take a different look at his relationship with his sister, and clarify many dark motifs that, in a transformed, refined form, resonate in the poetry of Paul Celan.
Particular attention was paid to
- The image of the sister in Trakl's works
- Shadows of his poetics in Celan's poems
- Deep connections between the two poets
Georg Trakl/AlyoshaProkopyev
RAINY EVENING
These red sunsets!
Intertwined with grapes,
Embraced by blue darkness,
Fears beat angrily at the windows.
The dust is swirling – the drain is stinking,
The sound of glass in a shaking frame.
Clouds of hot stallions
Lightning lashes with whips.
The windows sob or the seagulls. With a crackle
The pond's mirror broke.
The flames jump through the forest,
The fir trees caught fire and began to beat.
A hysterical cry in a hospital.
In the feathers of the night the blue is heard
A whistle, and suddenly lightning flashes:
The rain shines and beats on the roofs.
THE TIME OF WORK
Oh, the tears are coming!
Flimmernd schwankt am offenen Fenster
Weinlaub wirr ins Blau gewunden,
Drinnen nisten Angstgespenster.
Staub tanzt im Gestank der Gossen.
Klirrend stößt der Wind in Scheiben.
A dream from wild Russia
Blitze grelle Wolken treiben.
Laut zerspringt der Weiherspiegel.
Möven schrein am Fensterrahmen.
Feuerreiter sprengt vom Hügel
Und zerschellt im Tann zu Flammen.
Crazy fights in the hospital.
Bläulich schwirrt der Nacht Gefieder.
Glitzernd braust mit einem Male
Remain on the other side
1913
The story about Trakl turned out to be programmatic in many ways and, in a sense, became a summing up of Alyosha Prokopyev's work on Trakl (and Celan). They read poems (in the original and in Russian), talked a lot - there was not enough time, and they continued with questions outside!
Thank you for the meeting, and Bibliothek am Wasserturm for the cooperation!
DUNKLE STELLEN bei Georg Trakl
“Im Park erblicken zitternd sich Geschwister.”
Der Dichter und Übersetzer Aljoscha Prokopjew beschäftigt sich seit über dreißig Jahren intensiv mit der Dichtung Georg Trakls. Seine jüngsten Veröffentlichungen in den Zeitschriften Artikulation und Berlin.Berega, sowie ein demnächst erscheinender Beitrag in Perewod, eröffnen neue Perspektiven auf Trakls Verhältnis zur Schwester sowie auf die dunklen Motive seiner Poetik, die in veränderter, sublimierter Form auch in der Lyrik Paul Celans nachhallen.
In Focus Abends:
- The Westerfigure at Trakl
- Schatten seiner Poetik in Celans Gedichten
- Verborgene innere Konstellationen zwischen beiden Dichtern
Vielen Dank für den wunderbaren Abend – und der Bibliothek am Wasserturm herzlichen Dank für die Zusammenarbeit!