“Hale Alphabet” by Christian Chris: A City in List

Christian Kris doesn’t offer a pack of heavy husks, but a small, light-footed book. It weighs 50 grams, and is lightweight, but by no means literary. Because the lists, especially in alphabetical order, are a challenge. Christian Kris also admits: “I just wrote about what crossed my mind.” He let himself drift away from the stories he had on his mind, and he went on to himself: “What can I remember? What’s the best story?”

Of course the book starts with the letter “A” but with a little trick, because in fact it is about “Disk A”, one of the legendary tall buildings in Halei Neustadt:

Christian Kris is a special case in the scene of the Poet of Halle, because his texts do not hide a certain affinity for secret literature. As co-host of the reading stage, Christian Kris has also gained enough experience with the slopes, which can definitely be seen in Halley’s alphabet. Because the texts, published by Parasitenpresse in Cologne, should be limited so that they do not violate the label of strict order too often.

Christian Chris says it was important for the publisher to keep it short. “So we negotiated that I could get two texts longer and the rest could not be longer than one page.” The poem, which the author has also incorporated into the narrow volume, must show the following: “Well, it can also be different. It can also be more serious, not as silly as usual, but here it once proved what is also lyric in hex form Christian Kris explains that he wanted to put some kind of contradiction to it.

The small poem can be found under the letter G entitled Bell Salute. This greeting leads readers to the Polosphirtle era of the Wilhelmine Age of the City, a place that is truly lively, but now in dark isolation.

Other than that, Christian Kreis follows the logic of the German alphabet with sarcastic comments. Under H for Hallorenkugel, there is an indication that this could also be used as an alternative to window putty. On his tours, the poet “Saalerkreislerinnen thunder with donkey horns” contemplates the satirical art of dance and the ugliness of Riebeckplatz, which at best invites students from North Korea to relax.

Despite this small grudge, Haley’s marketing department has acquired a portion of the circulation, not to take it off the market, but to use it for tourism. But other than that, the book comes very close to our unstable habits. Now the story to go with the coffee to go.

It actually received similar reactions, according to Christian Kress reports, for example from people in Berlin who said the book was perfect for a trip on the S-Bahn. I also thought, “Well, at least something: station to station in Berlin. For a short story, it works! ”

So local history from the poet’s point of view. To date, alphabetical exploration of the region in Parasite Press has been limited to three parts of Cologne. With Halle Alphabet, the publisher now dares to jump from the Rhineland to the east of the Elbe. A nice idea that could definitely work for cities like Chemnitz, Jena and Magdeburg.