{{Short description|Danish poet (1958–1986)}} '''Michael Strunge Jensen''' (19 June 1958 – 9 March 1986) was a Danish poet.<ref name="drbiblo" /><ref>{{cite book | title=Samlede Strunge | publisher=Borgen | author=Strunge Michael, Digte 1978-85 | year=1995 | isbn=87-2100228-2}}</ref> He is regarded as perhaps the most influential Danish postmodern poet, and his works are among the most studied poems in Denmark.{{Citation needed|date=March 2018}}
As a member of the original circle of 1980s poets in the group around Hvedekorn's editor Poul Borum, Michael Strunge, in cooperation with his colleague Jens Fink-Jensen, among others, arranged the generational manifestation “NÅ!!80” in Copenhagen in 1980.
He received the Otto Gelsted Prize in 1983.
With influences from both Romanticism, Symbolism and Modernism, Strunge's work is somewhat reminiscent of that of French poet Arthur Rimbaud. Strunge's poetry deals with such topics as sex, death, modernity and life in the city.<ref>{{cite video | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB3a9mtbq_A | title=Optagelser af Michael Strunge og F.P. Jac}}</ref>
Originally inspired by the British punk wave of the late 1970s, many of Strunge's poems are full of references to the artists of his day, such as The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Cure, Joy Division, New Order, Brian Eno and David Bowie.
Strunge caused his own death on 9 March 1986, during a manic episode caused by bipolar disorder, by jumping from the 4th floor.<ref name="drbiblo">{{cite web | url=http://www.dr.dk/skole/Dansk/Danske_forfattere/Michael+Strunge/Michael+Strunge/michael_strunge.htm | title=Michael Strunge (1958 - 1986) | publisher=www.dr.dk | accessdate=August 18, 2012}}</ref> His last words before jumping were "Now I can fly", indicating that he did not mean to kill himself. The quote is printed on a memorial plaque placed on the facade of the building he jumped from.<ref name="mindetavle">{{cite web | url=http://bibliotek.kk.dk/biblioteker/raadhusbiblioteket/blog/mindetavle-michael-strunge | title=Mindetavle for Michael Strunge | publisher=Københavns Bibliotekers hjemmeside | accessdate=August 18, 2012 }}</ref>{{Citation needed|reason=The reference no longer leads to a source|date=April 2024}} He is buried at Assistens Cemetery in Copenhagen.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.assistens.dk/strunge.htm | title=MICHAEL STRUNGE | publisher=KULTURCENTRET ASSISTENS | accessdate=August 18, 2012 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100314040056/http://www.assistens.dk/strunge.htm | archivedate=March 14, 2010 }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [http://www.peterlind.org/o/#Michael_Strunge Michael Strunge at Town hall square Copenhagen 1985], photo by Peter Lind * [http://www.peterlind.org/o/#Michael_Strunge_heart Michael Strunge during the recording of the video TIDEN 1985], photo by Peter Lind * [http://www.peterlind.org/o/#1985_heart Michael Strunge inside heart x-ray device, 1985], photo by Peter Lind
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strunge, Michael}} Category:1958 births Category:1986 suicides Category:Danish male poets Category:People with bipolar disorder Category:Suicides by jumping in Denmark Category:20th-century Danish poets Category:20th-century Danish male writers Category:1986 deaths
{{Denmark-writer-stub}}