The essays are the indispensible cornerstones of Wolfgang Hilbig’s seven-volume edition. These not only include Hilbig’s poetics lectures and other texts about art, but also the numerous acceptance speeches that Hilbig held when he was awarded literary prizes. While his speech in Kamenz in 1997 caused a scandal with its criticism of German unification, his Büchner Prize speech in 2002 became a melancholy retrospection on the role of literature. However, Hilbig’s actual talent shines through his fabulously beautiful essays, which combine observation and reflection with the power and tone of his narratives. In addition, this volume contains Hilbig’s most important interviews – they are the voluntary disclosure of an indispensible writer.
