The Stasi Poetry Circle: The Creative Writing Class that Tried to Win the Cold War
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- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Philip Oltermann
- ISBN：057137333X
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Summary
Berlin， 1982。 Morale is at rock bottom in East Germany as the spectre of an all-out nuclear war looms。 The Ministry for State Security is hunting for creative new weapons in the war against the class enemy -- and their solution is stranger than fiction。 Rather than guns， tanks， or bombs， the Stasi develop a programme to fight capitalism through rhyme and verse， winning the culture war through poetry - and the result is the most bizarre book club in history。
Consisting of a small group of spies， soldiers and border guards - some WW2 veterans， others schoolboy recruits - the "Working Group of Writing Chekists" met monthly until the Wall fell。 In a classroom adorned with portraits of Lenin， they wrote their own poetry and were taught verse， metre， and rhetoric by East German poet Uwe Berger。
The regime hoped that poetry would sharpen the Stasi's 'party sword' by affirming the spies' belief in the words of Marx and Lenin， as well as strengthening the socialist faith of their comrades。 But as the agents became steeped in poetry， revelling in its imaginative ambiguity， the result was the opposite。 Rather than entrenching State ideology， they began to question it -- and following a radical role reversal， the GDR's secret weapon dramatically backfired。
Weaving unseen archival material and exclusive interviews with surviving members， Philip Oltermann reveals the incredible hidden story of a unique experiment: weaponising poetry for politics。 Both a gripping true story and a parable about creativity in a surveillance state， this is history writing at its finest。
Consisting of a small group of spies， soldiers and border guards - some WW2 veterans， others schoolboy recruits - the "Working Group of Writing Chekists" met monthly until the Wall fell。 In a classroom adorned with portraits of Lenin， they wrote their own poetry and were taught verse， metre， and rhetoric by East German poet Uwe Berger。
The regime hoped that poetry would sharpen the Stasi's 'party sword' by affirming the spies' belief in the words of Marx and Lenin， as well as strengthening the socialist faith of their comrades。 But as the agents became steeped in poetry， revelling in its imaginative ambiguity， the result was the opposite。 Rather than entrenching State ideology， they began to question it -- and following a radical role reversal， the GDR's secret weapon dramatically backfired。
Weaving unseen archival material and exclusive interviews with surviving members， Philip Oltermann reveals the incredible hidden story of a unique experiment: weaponising poetry for politics。 Both a gripping true story and a parable about creativity in a surveillance state， this is history writing at its finest。
Reviews
David Cutler
，
A fascinating book。 It brings to life the very ordinary members of the the Stasi Poetry Circle in the extraordinary society and times they lived through。 The attitude of the State to culture and literature as a accolade was illuminating。 Witty and also moving。 Just given it as a gift to an excited friend in Munich。
Bert
，
A showcase of the ill-conceived， faulty dialectics of a once thoroughly dialectic project （pp。 26-27）， with "a state committed to the idea that art brings out the best in people" （p。 23） for a thesis， a surveillance organization "spying upon itself" （p。 85） for an antithesis， and a broken promise （p。 176） culminating in suicide （p。 81）， detachment， and imminent poverty （p。 181） for a failing synthesis。 Expertly embellished with creative metaphors and allegories， this celebration of the power of A showcase of the ill-conceived， faulty dialectics of a once thoroughly dialectic project （pp。 26-27）， with "a state committed to the idea that art brings out the best in people" （p。 23） for a thesis， a surveillance organization "spying upon itself" （p。 85） for an antithesis， and a broken promise （p。 176） culminating in suicide （p。 81）， detachment， and imminent poverty （p。 181） for a failing synthesis。 Expertly embellished with creative metaphors and allegories， this celebration of the power of language - and study of the language of power - is the final report of an evidently captivating and exciting five years' worth of research。 It can also serve as an excellent primer of East German history， interspersed with a few unsettling previews to that region's present。 。。。more
Helen
，
Fascinating， surprising， informative。
Ellen
，
Not quite as advertised and rather hard going。
Lisa
，
DNF - abandoned at one-third through。 Too many snippets of poetry with inconclusive analyses - maybe they mean this or maybe they mean something else。 So far， I haven't learned anything more than I did from reading the blurb and I'm no longer interested。 DNF - abandoned at one-third through。 Too many snippets of poetry with inconclusive analyses - maybe they mean this or maybe they mean something else。 So far， I haven't learned anything more than I did from reading the blurb and I'm no longer interested。 。。。more
Zak
，
Reads like a history text-book。 There is little depth or subjective opinion to stand out。 It has a weird way of framing itself as a thrilling fictional recreatory non-fiction piece， then after a paragraph or less， lunges into stale， dull， copy and paste Wikipedia entries。 Very disappointing。
Christopher Vowles
，
Surreal history of centrally-planned state。
Mitch Karunaratne
，
The author skilfully layers history and politics into his account of the use of poetry to garner thoughts and attack potential dissent in the GDR。 The degree of control and manipulation the Stasi engaged in continues to both surprise and scare me。 But what stands out for me with this book is how close we are to loosing the ability to talk， in person， with this generation - history that seems so distant and yet to near。
Denise
，
Every time I think I've now heard all the strange， bizarre， weirder-than-fiction stories about shit that went on in the country of my birth， something like this book by Philip Oltermann about the Stasi teaching its staff about poetry writing comes along。 You couldn't make this shit up。 Every time I think I've now heard all the strange， bizarre， weirder-than-fiction stories about shit that went on in the country of my birth， something like this book by Philip Oltermann about the Stasi teaching its staff about poetry writing comes along。 You couldn't make this shit up。 。。。more
Kate
，
The Red Poets' Society？ Comrades in Consonance？ I suppose in the neurotic times of the early '80's and mutually assured destruction， when Ronald Reagan's 300-kiloton thermonuclear warheads were called "Peacekeepers"， it's at least unsurprising that the GDR's Stasi could create a Wunderwaffe of their own out of sonnets， bathos and broken rhyme。 It may have had its roots in the utopian days of building a "real existing socialism" with literature as a central pillar， extolling the virtues of the co The Red Poets' Society？ Comrades in Consonance？ I suppose in the neurotic times of the early '80's and mutually assured destruction， when Ronald Reagan's 300-kiloton thermonuclear warheads were called "Peacekeepers"， it's at least unsurprising that the GDR's Stasi could create a Wunderwaffe of their own out of sonnets， bathos and broken rhyme。 It may have had its roots in the utopian days of building a "real existing socialism" with literature as a central pillar， extolling the virtues of the common man。 Yet it ended with the writing circles' poetry and literature being co-opted by the out of touch dictatorship for its own ends。 It certainly didn't bring out the best in people， or stop "das Volk" from turning against the state and looking westwards。 I can't remember why Plato banned poets from his Republic， but I think he shouldn't have worried so much。 Maybe he was jilted by one， or had his own poetry badly criticised by a peer。 As we have daily proof， soft power only really goes so far， and the idea of a Literturgesellschaft （literary society） is more utopian than a Marxist one。 But even if poetry can't crush an enemy like a Soviet tank， it sure can piss people off。 And for that alone， it's worth consideration。 Fantastic， interesting book！ 。。。more
Neil Fulwood
，
Think ‘Dead Poets Society’ （Red Poets Society？） meets ‘Dr Strangelove’ by way of ‘Goodbye Lenin’。 File under “strange but true”， cross referenced to “you couldn’t make this shit up”。 Make your own mind up on the quality of the poetry。
Antonella
，
I didn't know how this story was going to be told and I found it very interesting， in expected and unexpected ways。 Telling this story in a non-linear way， like a puzzle of people's stories， perspectives， thoughts and - ultimately- choices， feels like the right one。 And poetry is a thread， in more than one way。 I enjoyed it very much。 I didn't know how this story was going to be told and I found it very interesting， in expected and unexpected ways。 Telling this story in a non-linear way， like a puzzle of people's stories， perspectives， thoughts and - ultimately- choices， feels like the right one。 And poetry is a thread， in more than one way。 I enjoyed it very much。 。。。more
Mandy
，
You couldn’t make it up。 Between 1982 and 1989 the GDR tried to weaponise poetry。 Art was seen as a means of socialist self-improvement and a way to fight against capitalism。 So a group of Stasi officers and border guards were convened every 4 weeks at the House of Culture and under the direction of professional state-sanctioned poet Uwe Berger to learn about poetry and how to write it。 Essentially， it was thought， that if they became poets themselves they would be able to infiltrate poetry circ You couldn’t make it up。 Between 1982 and 1989 the GDR tried to weaponise poetry。 Art was seen as a means of socialist self-improvement and a way to fight against capitalism。 So a group of Stasi officers and border guards were convened every 4 weeks at the House of Culture and under the direction of professional state-sanctioned poet Uwe Berger to learn about poetry and how to write it。 Essentially， it was thought， that if they became poets themselves they would be able to infiltrate poetry circles and be able to spot dissident writing。 As well， of course， as supplying some positive state-approved poetry for the masses。 However this attempt to weaponise poetry failed for many reasons， not least because it didn’t develop very good poets， and then many of them started to identify with the thoughts and ideas of the very people they were supposed to be spying on。 From interrogating suspects to composing sonnets in one short step。 This is a truly fascinating account of a little byway of history， a story stranger than fiction。 Well-researched， often using first-hand accounts and even on occasion meeting some of the original participants， the author gives us a vivid and insightful account - although I did find he jumped about a bit too much in time and place – and I look forward to actually reading some of the poetry composed under the auspices of one of the GDR’s more imaginative experiments。 。。。more
Stacey Bookerworm
，
I struggled to get past the first few pages。 It was a bit dry but would probably be of interest to those who had more than a passing interest in history
Lindsey Green
，
The premise had a lot of potential， but this was just not a very good book。 I think the plot could potentially be well-suited for a dark comedy film （e。g。， The Death of Stalin）， though， since the true story is so comically ridiculous。 I expected the book to read more like a novel， and there was much more focus on analyzing poetry and discussing literary elements than I anticipated。 The timelines were completely jumbled and the cast of characters kind of jumped in and out at various points， which The premise had a lot of potential， but this was just not a very good book。 I think the plot could potentially be well-suited for a dark comedy film （e。g。， The Death of Stalin）， though， since the true story is so comically ridiculous。 I expected the book to read more like a novel， and there was much more focus on analyzing poetry and discussing literary elements than I anticipated。 The timelines were completely jumbled and the cast of characters kind of jumped in and out at various points， which made it really hard for me to keep track of who people were and how they related to each other。 I also didn't like how the author would randomly insert himself and the investigative work he did into the 'storyline' -- it wasn't consistent， so it felt really odd。 。。。more
Kenna
，
The Stasi Poetry Circle: The Creative Writing Class that Tried to Win the Cold War is just an amazing title for the book！ The title alone made me want to read the book and learn more。 I was hoping that the book would focus more on the Stasi Poetry Circle and for there to be more of the poetry in the book。 Rather， it provides a good overview of the GDR， an overview of the political climate during the Cold War and up to the fall of the Berlin Wall， the context to the formation of the Stasi Poetry The Stasi Poetry Circle: The Creative Writing Class that Tried to Win the Cold War is just an amazing title for the book！ The title alone made me want to read the book and learn more。 I was hoping that the book would focus more on the Stasi Poetry Circle and for there to be more of the poetry in the book。 Rather， it provides a good overview of the GDR， an overview of the political climate during the Cold War and up to the fall of the Berlin Wall， the context to the formation of the Stasi Poetry Circle， it focuses on a few of the more notable poets of the group as well as looking at other poets in the GDR at that time and how they were viewed and treated。 Nonetheless， it makes for a fascinating read。 The fact that members of the Stasi would meet to workshop their poetry seems surreal， but it did happen。 Being the GDR， nothing was completely as it seemed。 The country was rife with informants and people being surveilled - even in this Stasi group， poets were watching and reporting on poets。 I think it’s a must-read for anyone interested in recent German history and the Cold War。 Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher， Faber & Faber， for the ARC for a fair and honest review。 。。。more
Kid Ferrous
，