15 Facts About Elke Erb

Elke Erb was a German author-poet based in Berlin.

Elke Erb was born at Scherbach in the hills south of Bonn.

Elke Erb's parents had moved there with her uncle Otto and his family in 1937 in order, as her father put it, to "overwinter National Socialism".

In 1949 the family were reunited when Ewald Elke Erb arranged for his wife and daughters to rejoin him at Halle in the Soviet occupation zone.

However, Ewald Elke Erb was living in Halle in a single rented room containing one writing desk and one bed.

For Elke Erb, approaching her teenage years, the result of the disruption and uncertainty was a lasting alienation from her parents.

Elke Erb successfully concluded her school career by passing the Abitur in 1957.

Elke Erb emerged with the necessary qualification along with the insight that for her a career in teaching would be nightmarish.

Elke Erb then worked first as a volunteer and then as a literary editor with Mitteldeutscher Verlag between 1963 and 1966.

Elke Erb worked on texts of her own, writing reviews for publishers on Russian dramas and on works of fiction.

Elke Erb produced poetry and prose works and further translations, notably of novels by Oleg Alexandrovitch Yuryev and poems by Olga Martynova.

Elke Erb worked as an editor-compiler, at one point, for instance, of the annual "Jahrbuch der Lyrik".

Elke Erb became, over the years, something of an inspiration and mentor for the Prenzlauer-Berg literary set.

Elke Erb was married to Adolf Endler between 1968 and 1978.

Elke Erb died on 22 January 2024, at the age of 85.