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On the Tidings of Time: Poems

by Ralph Günther Mohnnau; Translated by Christopher Martin

172 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); English and German; catalogue #05-1628; ISBN 1-4120-6717-0; US$16.00, C$18.40, EUR13.14, £9.20

"A rather novel voice...straightforward and earthy...his imagery is laden with the accoutrements of the world of science and technology... an appealing blend of wit, humor, and irony." - World Literature Today

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About the Book

About the Author

Excerpts

About the Book

On the Tidings of Time is the latest collection of poems by the celebrated German poet, novelist, and opera librettist Ralph Günther Mohnnau, Exclusively on the subject of Time, these poems run the gamut from those inspired by the Zen philosophers of old to wry observations on the field of science to those that strike close to the heart. As the poet himself approaches the twilight on the horizon and experiences the ebb of time and tide, his poems reflect the past that shackles us, the present that consumes us, as well as the future that beckons. Published here for the first time in a bi-lingual edition, each of the poems in English is accompanied by the original German on the facing page, translated by Mohnnau's longtime English interpreter Christopher Martin, who is responsible for the companion collection, Sowing Nightshade in the Wastelands of Cities, also available from Trafford.

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About the Author

Ralph Günther Mohnnau was born in 1937 in the town of Bad Kreuznach, Germany. First poems and articles appeared at age 14, and an interest in poetry, painting and ballet was followed by studies in English and Romance languages, with degrees in Law and Philosophy from the Universities of Mainz, Freiburg and the Paris Sorbonne. His foreign studies have taken him to Greece, Egypt, the United States and the Canary Islands, crediting personal encounters with Martin Heidegger, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Charles Bukowski, Joan Miró, and John Cage as significant influences on his creative work.

All told, he has published more than 60 volumes of his works, many of which have been translated into English, French, Spanish, Catalan, and Japanese. His poems have been collected under the titles: Red Corpuscles, Anti-bodies, Gamma-rays and Sowing Nightshade in the Wastelands of Cities. He has written a novel, Dance of the Condor, and translated Akenaten's The Song of the Sun, and The Love Poems of Sappho.

Beyond poetry, his creative passions extend to musical theatre and opera. He has written several libretti -- Caroline (score composed by Michael Obst, Weimar), Wenn Die Zeit Über Die Ufer Tritt (If Time Overflow the Banks, for the Munich Biennale, score by Vladimir Tarnopolski), and Jenseits Der Schatten (Beyond the Shadows, for the Beethoven Festival in Bonn, score by Vladimir Tarnopolski, Moscow). His rock opera H-OR, the Rainbow Jumpers (score by Matthias Raue), had its premiere at the Ohio Theatre off-Broadway in 1985, directed by OBIE-Award winner Manuel Lütgenhorst. A dramatic work, Cry of the Mantis has been mounted in Paris, Vienna, Frankfurt, and at Seven Stages/Atlanta in 1990, director/designer Christopher Martin, music by Matthias Raue.

Ralph Günther Mohnnau lives and works in Frankfurt and Ibiza (Balearic Islands, Spain).

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Excerpts

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