Ernst Jandl (1925–2000) was a writer, language artist, sound poet and performer. He wrote in German and repeatedly in English, he mixed languages, alternated between dialect and standard German and invented his own linguistic forms such as the “run-down language”. He was always looking for new forms of expression and saw writing as a “continuous realisation of freedom”. He was convinced: “Language is made by us, and we can, may, should do everything with it that is possible to do with it – without hesitation, without veneration, but instead with joy, love, cheerfulness.”
To mark the 100th birthday of Ernst Jandl in 2025, we invited young people to get inspired by his passion to play with language and different languages. We received contributions from all around the world: it was “jandled” from New Zealand to India, Hungary, Czech Republic, Vienna, Salzburg, Carinthia and Vorarlberg to Liechtenstein.
Ten entries were selected by a jury and can be seen in the foyer of the Literature Museum of the Austrian National Library until the end of the year.
In addition, a selection of all submitted videos will be shown on the competition's YouTube channel.
A competition organised by the Ernst Jandl Society, funded by the Federal Ministry for Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport.
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/jandlnow/
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