Though the German Democratic Republic collapsed in 1990, many of its greatest writers are relatively unknown to Americans and Western Europeans. This volume attempts to redress this situation.

Edited by Therese Hörnigk and Alexander Stephan

Contents:
- The New Sufferings of Young W. by Ulrich Plenzdorf
Everyday Life Under Socialism
- "Suffer the Little Children..." by Wolfgang Kohlhaase
- "Hans Garbe Tells His Story" by Käthe Rülicke
- "Electric Power" by Erwin Strittmatter
- "Hartholz" by Erik Neutsch
- "On the Way" by Werner Bräunig
- "Description of My Friends" by Fritz Rudolf Fries
- "The Christmas Story" Jurij Brězan
- "Property Damage" by Helga Königsdorf
- "The Earthquake at Sangerhausen" by Helga Schütz
- "My Friend, a Poet of Love" by Reiner Kunze
- "Forget-Me-Not" by Günter de Bruyn
- "Solid Ground" by Wolfgang Hilbig
- "Love Story - Made in The GDR" by Günter Kunert
Women in the GDR
- "Anna and the Men's Strike" by Friedrich Wolf
- "White Easter" by Irmtraud Morgner
- "The Fear of Love" by Maxie Wander
- "A Remarkable Example of Determination in Women" by Sarah Kirsch
- "Sibylle N." by Irina Liebmann
- "This Winter" by Angela Stachowa
- "I Have Married Again" by Christine Wolter
Coming to Tems with the Nazi Past
- "The Jew Car" by Franz Fühmann
- "Mouse Party" by Johannes Bobrowski
- "The Reed" by Anna Seghers
- "My Peace" by Stephan Hermlin
- "Change at the City Center" Heinz Knobloch
- "The Father" by Heiner Müller
- "For the Files" by Hermann Kant
The End of the GDR
- "I Saw Stalin Once When I Was a Child" by Christoph Hein
- "I Have Never Drunk Champagne" by Erich Loest
- "I.M." by F. Hendrik Melle
- "The Reunion" by Beate Morgenstern
- "Property" by Stefan Heym
- "The Raft of Utopia" by Joachim Walther
- "The Invincible Monument" by Daniela Dahn
- "Beautiful Summer" by Joochen Laabs