Mitch Cohen

Mitch Cohen grew up in California, earning a Bachelor's degree in English in 1974 from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he broadcast a weekly poetry radio show.
In the US, he worked as a paperboy, garden shop manager, dishwasher, and secretary at the university.
In 1975, he worked as an au pair/stableboy in the Odenwald. 3 months travel in Europe followed, then grape picking and construction work in Rhine-Hessen. In West Berlin, he studied Germanistik & Amerikanistik at the Freie Universität where he tutored a section on E. German poetry. Translating and editing a Berlin anthology acquainted him with the underground poet and artist scene in East Berlin. He taught art & ceramics to children, then became a freelance translator and editor, including for Deutsche Welle TV and the Institute for Advanced Studies Berlin.
By 2020, Mitch Cohen had traveled to 45 different countries. Some of his literary works and translations are listed in the category “works” on this website.

What brought you to Berlin? Love? World politics? Or was it a coincidence?

Coincidence. In 1976 I was traveling around Europe on a Eurailticket, which didn't include trains to Berlin, so I didn't intend to come here. In the Hamburg youth hostel, a couple who sold their leather crafts at flea markets offered to take me to Berlin for 10 DM gas money. I could stay at their place for free for a week, then they'd take me back to West Germany. I thought for a minute and agreed. After my trip and picking grapes in Rhine-Hessen, I wanted to visit the couple in Berlin. And I stayed.

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What do you love about Berlin?

That when I leave my apartment I can just fall into any number of cafés. That I don't need a car. That the city has plenty of culture and museums, nature, and good restaurants. That here I have friends from all over the world. And my wife Carola!

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What do you miss in Berlin?

Californian weather. I used to miss Mexican food and California's range of fruits and vegetables. Berlin meanwhile also offers them all.

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What is your favorite spot in Berlin?

Grunewald (with Wannsee and the Wissenschaftskolleg -- Institute for Advanced Studies).

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Would you say you are a different person in Berlin? A different translator? And if yes, in what way?

Having lived here for 45 years (as of 2020), how could I NOT be a different person?

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Which existing literary work do you wish you had written?

Ulysses S. Grant's "Memoirs".

1983. One of 5 equal "City District Description" prizes from the Literary Colloquium Berlin for my prose text "Stadtteilchen".

1975. 1st prize in one of 4 categories in the "New Worlds Anthology" haiku competition.

1973. One of 3 prizes in Harper's Magazine's senryu competition.