Kasack, Hermann (Potsdam, 1896-1966, Stuttgart), studied Germanistik and philosophy in Berlin and Munich, joined the Gustav Kiepenheuer Verlag in 1920 and moved in 1926 for eighteen months to S. Fischer, after which he lived from broadcasting until he was banned from public speaking in 1933. Having in the following years kept a low profile, he worked from 1941 to 1949 for the Suhrkamp Verlag vorm. S. Fischer, filling an urgent vacancy caused by the death of his friend O. Loerke. In 1953 he was elected president of the Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung (Darmstadt), which he remained for ten years. Apart from his editorial work he was particularly noted for his promotion of young authors.

Kasack's own writing began with expressionist poetry (Der Mensch, 1918; Die Insel, 1920), abandoned after the early post-war years. Das ewige Dasein (1943) contains his poetry of the previous 25 years. He also wrote a few plays, including one on van Gogh (Vincent, 1924), but he was little known until after 1945 when his novel Die Stadt hinter dem Strom (1947), begun during the war, attracted considerable attention by its combination of realism and surrealist allegory which also characterizes the satirical novel Das große Netz (1952) and the story Der Webstuhl (1949; 1957 with Das Birkenwäldchen). Other works include the story Fälschungen (1953) and the volumes of poetry Aus dem chinesischen Bilderbuch (1955), Antwort und Frage (1961), and Wasserzeichen (1964). His essays, Mosaiksteine (1956), are mainly concerned with his own work and philosophy. Oskar Loerke. Charakterbild eines Dichters (1951) was followed by his edition of Loerke's poetry, diaries, essays, and reviews. He also edited Peter Suhrkamp's essays (Der Leser: Reden und Aufsätze, 1960).

The Oxford Companion to German Literature. Copyright © 1976, 1986, 1997, 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.