Since the late seventies, Günter Kunert (b. 1929 in Berlin) has been one of the most noted and widely debated authors writing in German today. Despite this broad response his poetic work has so far been accorded surprisingly little academic consideration. The aim of the present monograph is to examine the various volumes of Kunert's verse with a view to reconstructing the way in which his art has evolved both formally and in terms of subject matter. At the same time an attempt is made to trace the transformation in Kunert's poetological stance as a result of his engagement with the literary theories of Brecht and Benn and to discuss the social and aesthetic consequences of that development.