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Imagine a world where the secret police believed that writers were embedding subversive messages in their works, and their solution was to train their own poets, weaponizing poetry in the battle against their perceived enemies. This extraordinary true story takes you into the heart of East Germany's Stasi, where a group of soldiers and border guards gathered monthly in a heavily guarded military compound to learn the art of lyrical verse writing. Journalist Philip Oltermann spent five years meticulously sifting through Stasi files, unearthing lost volumes of poetry, and tracking down surviving members of this Red poet's society, unveiling a little-known tale where spies turned poets and poets turned spies, all in an attempt to win the Cold War.
Described as "engrossing" by The Observer, "remarkable" by The Times, "magnificent" by Phillipe Sands, and "gripping" by Literary Review, this book is a history so outlandish and unlikely that you feel it must be true, as Anthony Quinn of The Observer Book of the Week puts it. Oltermann's grippingly well-written account of The Stasi Poetry Circle: The Creative Writing Class that Tried to Win the Cold War takes you on a journey through the intersection of poetry and espionage, where the lines between art and surveillance blur in the most unexpected ways.
Book ISBN: | 9780571331208 |
Book Author: | Philip Oltermann |
Book Format: | Paperback / softback |
Book Imprint: | Faber & Faber |
Book Publisher: | Faber & Faber |
Book Dimensions: | 129 x 198 x 27 cm |
Book Publication Date: | 2023-02-02 |
Book Pagination: | 224 pages |
Book Weight: | 186g |
Sherlock & Pages is a little bookshop with a big heart. We are based in Frome, Somerset, England and curate lists of books in the areas we are passionate about – landscape, nature, history, and heritage. In short, the conservation of all we’ve inherited and all we are responsible to pass on. We aim to inspire and be inspired, to form a literary culture of care and passion about this precious planet we call home.
This is a shop where you might find something you haven’t seen before, and we like to think we’ve got something for everyone. We choose each of our books with care and for a reason. This is because our physical store is small but beautifully formed, holding only around 1200 titles at any one time. We try and recreate the feel of the shop wherever we are online, to reflect our niche categories and personality.
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Our tagline is ‘Long Live the Hedgerows’ and our symbol a hibernating dormouse. If you want to support an independent with a unique character and which will share stories with you for years to come, then choose Sherlock & Pages. The world needs bookshops with soul, for they are ‘citadels of light.’