In Pursuit of the Butterfly
(with photography by Jan Busby)

"The poetry of James Brandenburg is rich in imagery, allusion and music. The images of spiritual death - cauldrons, storms, fogs, jungles - form the embryo from which the past finds new life, and the images of new life, the spiritual rebirth abound - stars, moons, circles, water, sunrises."

"Jan Busby's photography stands alone and becomes independent in its own right, but when it is placed in conjunction with a specific poem, the image always amplifies a central meaning or an aspect of that meaning."

-Michael Seiferth, Associate Professor of English, Palo Alto College, San Antonio, TX

Somewhere Everywhere/
Irgendwo Überall
(Poems in English and German by James Brandenburg and Hejo Müller)

Original Poems in English and Translations from the German by James Brandenburg.

Original Poems in German and Translations from the English by Hejo Müller.

"The supreme delight in these poems and translations, however, rests in the way each poet interpreted the other's language; we have not a single poem where the literal translation satisfies for long. The poets intuit the mot juste, change an image so that it becomes broader in meaning, and even provide a different idiom, for example, which makes the translation itself perhaps a third reading or experience of the same poem."

-Michael Seiferth, Associate Professor of English, Palo Alto College, San Antonio, TX

For a wonderful interview with Palabras Press that delves into the process of the collaboration involved in writing this book, click here.

Beginning in July 2007, James will be collaborating with Ulrike Rowe, a German Artist, on a collection of her paintings and his poems. She designed the cover of this book. She paints a lot of her work from her dreams and James writes many of his poems from dreams and the collective unconscious. Check back for updates.

Cafe con Leche -

San Antonio Express News, June 17, 2007

(see Selected Poems Page)

Poet Magazine -

First Edition in July/August 2007.  James is Senior Editor of the magazine and wrote a Poet's Corner, The early History of Poetry, an Interview with Mo Saidi and also a poem.  Click here to view (note: this is a 4.13 MB download)