as mornings and mossgreen I. Step to the window

»Esteemed listeners, do not try to lift the secret of this text«, orders Friederike Mayröcker in her new work of prose – but even its title leaves an infallible track.

as mornings and mossgreen I. Step to the window leaves no doubt about what is still to do, day after day: looking at the world alertly and with curiosity and take an art from it that transforms words into shooting stars and considers language itself an almost inexhaustible poetic magic kit: »my texts are created through eyes that reproduce themselves« is one of the secrets that the Viennese poet reveals to her readers after all.

Even though »corporeality« may have become cumbersome in old age, even though the lists of words that have been lost over the years may become longer, as the poet herself laments – »in my dreams I am young, in my dreams I am high«, ensures Friederike Mayröcker and this credo is all the more true for her incomparable, limitless and wholly uninterpretable poetry.

»Just a few more years until the poet turns one hundred. But she writes with a freshness that makes it seem as though she had only just begun writing.« Paul Jandl, Neue Zürcher Zeitung

»The freshness, the comicality of ageing, the youthfulness of the aleatory leaps, the lust for evocation and digression, the technique of hurried cross-fades and fade-outs, the nervous layering and superimposition of frequencies that tirelessly propel this masterpiece of language are surprising.« Friederike Reents, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

»With every new book [by Mayröcker] you feel refreshed by a brisk literary wind.« Tobias Lehmkuhl, Süddeutsche Zeitung

»... [a] tender diary [….] Writing poetry establishes an alternative world to the physical decline, results in a highly complex poetization and overwriting of the world.« Björn Hayer, der Freitag

»For almost seventy years now, Friederike Mayröcker’s books have been very delicately spun fabrics […] made from ecstatic experiences of nature, headlines, memory particles, images from childhood and dream scenarios. With her stunning powers of imagination she creates vibrant mosaics with them.« Michael Braun, Deutschlandfunk Kultur

»[…] of tremendous beauty. By creating an all-encompassing, ecstatic space of perception, the author succeeds in creating a cosmic unity.« Berliner Zeitung

»Stunning imagery ...« Juliane Bergmann, NDR

»In her new poetic journal, Friederike Mayröcker proves herself to be an alert author. Reading the individual short texts attentively will bring a bountiful reward. This is literature at its finest, because it interweaves prose, poetry and reflection into an inimitable textual fabric.« Andreas Puff-Trojan, SWR

»95-year-old Friederike Mayröcker is the most exciting woman in German-language literature. Her new work [...] as I in the morning and moss green. come up to the window creates a sensual, ecstatic reading experience.« Michael Roland Gutsch, Nordkurier

»Once more the 95-year-old spins fractions of words into shimmering garlands of sentences and cascades of thoughts flowing down the pages.« Michael Wurmitzer, Der Standard