Happy National Poetry Month! As we celebrate some of our favorite poets, it’s also an opportunity to discover someone whose poetry you may not have read before.
One poet worth examining is the Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven (1874-1927), the avant garde German poet. Von Freytag-Loringhoven was a woman of many talents. In addition to her work as a poet, von Freytag-Loringhoven was an artist who was active in the Dada movement, which rejected logic and reason in favor of absurdity.
Von Freytag-Loringhoven was part of the artistic and literary scenes in Berlin, New York City, and Paris. She was also close friends with Djuna Barnes, who at one point planned to write her biography. If you want to learn more about this underrated modernist figure, you’re in luck! Maryland’s Special Collections and University Archives is home to the Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven papers.
The library may be closed right now, but the majority of the collection is available online. To learn more, check out:
- Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven papers: a guide to materials in the collection
- Digital Collections: digitized drafts of her writings and correspondence.
If you’re looking for more ways to take advantage of Maryland’s holdings be sure to take a look at an online exhibit highlighting the Baroness’s poetry:
- In Transition: Selected poems by the Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven
- Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven Digital Library.
Special Collections & University Archives 