Eugen Gomringer in the SLA
Eugen Gomringer was born in Bolivia in 1925 and moved to Switzerland as a toddler. During his studies in Bern, he initially tried his hand at traditional poetic forms, especially sonnets. Then, in 1944, an exhibition by the Zurich Concrete Poets inspired him to embark on an experimental path: From 1950 onwards, he wrote his first concrete poems, the “Konstellationen” (Constellations), published them in the avant-garde magazine spirale (1953), which he co-founded, and underpinned them with the manifesto vom vers zur konstellation (1954), one of the most influential theoretical writings on concrete poetry to date.
Gomringer further cemented his reputation as the most important promoter and representative of concrete poetry in the German-speaking world in the following years through anthologies, publications, and magazines that also caused a stir internationally: 33 konstellationen (1960), the self-published series konkrete poesie – poesia concreta (1960–1965), worte sind schatten (1969), and the Reclam anthologies konkrete poesie (1972) and konstellationen, ideogramme, stundenbuch (1977).
Gomringer was exceptionally well connected with concrete poets and constructivists from all over the world, associating with the “Wiener Gruppe” (Vienna Group), the Brazilian “Noigandres” poets, maintaining contacts with Max Bense and Max Bill, Josef Albers and Victor Vasarely, undertaking lecture tours through the USA and South Korea, and having friends and admirers in Japan. He regularly collaborated with like-minded poets and artists, curated exhibitions, gave lectures on aesthetics at universities, collected, archived, and dealt in art, and promoted young poets. At the same time, he worked for around four decades as a cultural representative in the consumer goods industry, headed the Swiss Werkbund, and played a key role in foundation boards. In 2000, he founded his own “Institute for Constructive Art and Concrete Poetry” (IKKP) in his adopted home of Rehau in Upper Franconia.
After the turn of the millennium, Gomringer received several prestigious awards for his life’s work, including the Bavarian Order of Merit (2008), the Rilke Prize (2009), the Alice Salomon Poetry Prize (2011), and the “Cóndor de los Andes” Order of the State of Bolivia (2022). Between 1995 and 2006, a four-volume complete edition of all his writings was published by Edition Splitter in Vienna.
Swiss National Library
Swiss Literary Archives
Hallwylstrasse 15
Switzerland - 3003 Bern