Carl-Christian Elze

Before studying creative writing at the Literaturinstitut Leipzig, Elze studied biology and German studies. His interest in natural sciences and natural phenomena is reflected in his poetic work. He talks about space and the big bang, the passing of time and about faith. Elze competently intertwines these big picture themes with personal and human feelings of love, fear and doubt. 

Over the years, Carl-Christian Elze has published six poetry collections. He also writes short stories and scripts for short films. His first novel Freudenberg was published in 2022 and was on the long list for the German Book Prize. Elze’s work has also been honoured with the Poetry Prize Munich in 2014, and he has received multiple stipends, such as the New York stipend of the Max Kade foundation in 2010 and the stipend of the German study center in Venice in 2016. Elze is the current city writer of Halle (Saale) and was the city writer of Dresden in 2023. He is the co-founder of the Leipzig based reading series “Niemerlang” and a member of the German PEN-center.