Reading and Discussion
Rainer Maria Rilke’s Duino Elegies

Reading of Alison Croggon’s translation of Rilke’s Duino Elegies

Fri, 21.10.2022
6:00 PM Goethe-Institut Melbourne

Rainer Maria Rilke famously began his most significant work, the Duino Elegies, one stormy night in 1912 on the battlements of Duino Castle near Trieste when he heard a voice calling to him: "Who, if I cry, hears me among the angelic orders?" One hundred years after the Elegies first appeared, Alison Croggon has answered the call.

Published to critical acclaim earlier this year following a gestation period of over two decades, her translation brings new life to this masterpiece of European modernism, itself a testament to the agony and ecstasy of artistic creation. No longer a stuffy museum piece, the stormwinds blow once more as Croggon brings out the speed, dynamism, and sheer exuberance of Rilke's verse.

Alison Croggon is an award-winning novelist, poet, theatre writer, critic and editor who lives in Melbourne, Australia. She works in many genres and her books and poems have been published to acclaim nationally and internationally. She is arts editor for The Saturday Paper and was co-founder and editor of the performance criticism website Witness (2017-2021). 


In cooperation with AALITRA, the Goethe-Institut in Melbourne organizes an evening of convivial discussion as Croggon introduces her translation, reads from it, and answers questions from the floor.

The reading takes place at the Goethe-Institut in Melbourne on the 21st October 2022 at 6pm, refreshments will be provided!

We look forward to seeing you there! 

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