Uncovering East Germany’s Vanished Literature

“Just the name ‘subversive literature’ has a provocative, candle-under-the-bedcovers feel. In communist East Germany — perhaps the most spied-on nation in history — however, almost everything fell under that dicey rubric. Poetry about freedom? Anti-utopian sci-fi? Political satire? All blacklisted. Now, 16 years after the Soviet puppet state crumbled, two former citizens have unearthed the vanished nation’s hidden literature and — adamant that it no longer be submerged in anonymity — are pushing to get it published.”