The Wendish Research Exchange - Scholze-Šołta, Dietrich: The Sorbian Poet Benedikt Dyrlich and Poland

Lětopis Abstract 2012 1: Scholze-Šołta, Dietrich: The Sorbian Poet Benedikt Dyrlich and Poland

Benedikt Dyrlich (born 1950) who celebrated his 70th birthday in the spring of 2020, is one of the leading Sorbian writers and journalists of the present day. He has given a lasting stimulus to the literature of this minority in the last fifty years, above all with his bilingual lyric poetry. He was able to reinforce his Slav identity thanks to his early and lasting connections with the history and culture of the neighboring Polish nation and to bring to fruition numerous bilateral activities from the Sorbian side. At the same time, he strengthened his position in the East German literary scene before and after the political changes of 1989 as a result of the response to his work in this friendly foreign country.