Gong, Alfred, 1920-1981

Alfred Gong (1920-1981) was a German-American poet, essayist, critic and editor. He was born Czernowitz, which is now part of the Ukraine. A Jewish man, Gong spent World War II in work camps and then in Bucharest with forged papers. In 1946, he moved to Vienna, and the emigrated to the United States in 1952. He lived the remainder of his life in New York. He published three collections of poems: Gras and Omega, Manifest Alpha, and Gnadenfrist . He also wrote a collection of short stories: Happening in der Park Avenue, and edited Interview mit Amerika, an anthology of German-American writings.

From the guide to the Alfred Gong Papers, 1949-2000, (University of Cincinnati, Archives and Rare Books Library)