A SHORT STORY BY FRANZ KAFKA

Franz Kafka’s shortest short story is among his most poignant. In a few hundred words he tells the unknown tale of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, usually stereotyped surfing the waves with his mighty trident. In Kafka’s version, Poseidon is a lonely bureaucrat who seldom actually glimpses the seas he supposedly rules. Frustrated, angry, and misunderstood, Poseidon spends his days hunched over a desk, “crunching the numbers,” quietly enraged at his lot in life.

We are delighted to present the story alongside Linda Lowery’s initial motif, in anticipation of an upcoming bilingual book edition which features several of her portraits. The broadside features an original translation by Klaus van Valken.