The poetry addict: Utz Rachowski as poet, political prisioner, and counselor

Abstract

Closely analyzing selected poems, this article traces the major phases of the five-decade-long career of contemporary German poet Utz Rachowski. First, East Germany’s paranoid repressive police force declared five of Rachowski’s poems to be subversive. Second, with his prison poems, Rachowski asserts his subjectivity against objectifying punishments. From this phase onward, the metaphor “poetry is a drug” helps us to understand the role of poetry for Rachowski. Third, his exile led to a sense of loss of home expressed in mature poetry. Finally, taking on responsibility for a dog during his 2012 stay in the United States reconfirmed Rachowski’s belief in trust, giving his poetry new productivity and a gentler tone. Outside his poetic career, Rachowski counsels people who have suffered under the state repressions---Original in English.