{{Short description|German poet (1957–2005)}} '''Thomas Kling''' (June 5, 1957 – April 1, 2005) was a German [[poet]].

== Life == Thomas Kling was born in [[Bingen am Rhein]], grew up in [[Hilden]] and went to school in [[Düsseldorf]]. He studied [[philology]] in [[Cologne]], Düsseldorf and [[Vienna]] and lived in [[Finland]] for a certain period. Since 1983 he presented his poems on public performances – first in Vienna, than in the [[Rhineland]]. Later he performed together with the jazz percussionist {{ill|Frank Köllges|de}}.

Kling lived with his wife [[Ute Langanky]], a painter, on the museum area of [[Hombroich]] (a former rocket station) near [[Neuss]]. In 2005 he died in [[Dormagen]] of lung cancer. He was buried in Neuss-Holzheim.

== Poetry == Thomas Kling was an important poet in contemporary German literature. He was influenced by authors like [[Friederike Mayröcker]], [[Ernst Jandl]], [[Paul Celan]], [[Hans Carl Artmann]] and [[Konrad Bayer]]. The structure and the layout of his poems were often dominated by the needs of his performances. He was member of the German [[International PEN|PEN]]-centre and of the [[Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung]] (German Academy for Language and Poetry).

== Awards == * 1986: [[Förderpreis für Literatur der Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf]] in [[Northrhine-Westphalia]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.duesseldorf.de/kulturamt/auszeichnungen/literatur.shtml |title=Förderpreis für Literatur der Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf |access-date=2013-10-01 |archive-date=2014-10-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006135634/http://www.duesseldorf.de/kulturamt/auszeichnungen/literatur.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref> * 1989: Promotion Prize of Northrhine-Westphalia * 1990: Rolf Dieter Brinkmann Grant of Cologne * 1991: Promotion Prize of the arts circle in the Federal Association of German Industry * 1993: Else Lasker Schüler Prize for Poetry * 1997: Peter Huchel Prize * 2001: [[Ernst Jandl Prize]] * 2005: Poetry Prize of the Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf

== Works == * ''der zustand vor dem untergang'' (the situation before the breakup), Düsseldorf 1977 * ''erprobung herzstärkender mittel'' (testing of heart strengthening means), Düsseldorf 1986 * ''geschmacksverstärker'' (flavour enhancer), Frankfurt am Main 1989 * ''verkehrsfunk'' (traffic message channel), 1989 * ''brennstabm'' (fuel rod / fuel rodz), Frankfurt am Main 1991 * ''nacht.sicht.gerät'' (night.vision.device), Frankfurt am Main 1993 * ''wände machn'' (making walls / makin walls), Münster 1994 * ''morsch'' (decayed), Frankfurt am Main 1996 * ''Itinerar'' (itinerary), Frankfurt am Main 1997 * ''Wolkenstein. Mobilisierun<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' (claude stone. mobilisatio<nowiki>'</nowiki>, Münster 1997 * ''GELÄNDE camouflage'' (terrain camouflage), Münster 1997 (together with Ute Langanky) * ''Fernhandel'' (long distance trade), Köln 1999 * ''Botenstoffe'' (messenger substrates), Köln 2001 * ''Sondagen'' (sondages), Köln 2002 * ''Auswertung der Flugdaten'' (analysis of flight data), Köln 2005 * ''Gesammelte Gedichte'' (collected poems), Köln 2006 * ''Das brennende Archiv'' - Brevier. (ed. Ute Langanky and Norbert Wehr). Suhrkamp, Berlin 2012 (= suhrkamp taschenbuch 4351), {{ISBN|978-3-518-46351-2}}.

== Editor ==

* [[Friederike Mayröcker]]: ''Benachbarte Metalle'', Frankfurt am Main 1998 * [[Sabine Scho]]: ''Thomas Kling entdeckt Sabine Scho'', Hamburg [u.a.] 2001 * ''Sprachspeicher. 200 Gedichte auf deutsch vom achten bis zum zwanzigsten Jahrhundert'', Köln 2001

== Translations ==

* [[Gaius Valerius Catullus]]: ''Das Haar der Berenice'', Ostfildern vor Stuttgart 1997

== Literature == * [[Heinz-Norbert Jocks]]: ''Thomas Kling. Bilderfindungen'', Un entretien de Heinz-Norbert Jocks, revised in: [[Schreibheft. Zeitschrift für Literatur]], Edition 96, Essen 2021, p.&nbsp;146-155. * [[Heinz-Norbert Jocks]]: ''Bilderfindungen, Ein Gespräch mit Thomas Kling'', in: [[Kunstforum International]], Cologne 1998, No. 140, p.&nbsp;238–253. * Heinz-Norbert Jocks: ''Wörter aus dem Vulkan'', In: [[General-Anzeiger]], Bonn 1994,23./24. July 1994. * Heinz-Norbert Jocks: ''Das Genie'', In: ''Überblick Magazin'', Düsseldorf, 1986, Edition 11, November, p.&nbsp;36–38. * Heinz-Norbert Jocks: ''Ein Wahlverwandter der Dadaisten'', In: ''Düsseldorfer Hefte'', Düsseldorf, 1986, 1. October 1986, Edition 11, p.&nbsp;13-14.

== References== {{Reflist}} * ''Thomas Kling'', München 2000. * ''Thomas Kling – Karl-Heinrich Müller'', Köln 2004. * ''Thomas Kling ist tot. Notizen zu einem deutschen Dichter'' (In: [[Theo Breuer]], ''Aus dem Hinterland. Lyrik nach 2000'', Sistig/Eifel 2005, S. 101-114). * Hubert Winkels: ''Der Stimmen Ordnung. Über Thomas Kling'', Köln 2005.

== External links == * [http://www.dumontliteratur.de/index.php?page=getauthor.php&id=26 At his publishing house Dumont, German] * [http://www.literaturkritik.de/public/rezension.php?rez_id=827 Interview on literaturkritik.de, German] * [http://www.zeit.de/2005/13/L-Kling Review of his book “Auswertung der Flugdaten” in the newspaper “Die Zeit”, German]

{{Authority control}}

Added category tag for membership in the German Academy of Language and Literature

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kling, Thomas}} [[Category:1957 births]] [[Category:2005 deaths]] [[Category:People from Bingen am Rhein]] [[Category:German male poets]] [[Category:20th-century German poets]] [[Category:Members of the German Academy for Language and Literature]] [[Category:Deaths from lung cancer in Germany]] [[Category:20th-century German male writers]]