Josephine Clare Hollo

Josephine Clare Hollo, poet, translator and activist, lived in Geneva for almost 50 years, moving there in 1973 and leaving in 2022 to live with her daughter in the Hudson Valley.
Josefine Klara Wirkus was born in 1933 in Gammertingen, Germany, to Franz and Maria. She attended the Academy of Music & Drama in Stuttgart and the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna, becoming a member of the Austrian Actors' Guild in 1958. She married poet and translator Anselm Hollo and moved to London (UK) where their children Hannes, Kaarina and Tamsin were born. There, she translated English poetry into German for publication and for the BBC, occasionally performing in BBC radio plays. This marked the beginning of a fruitful collaboration with Anselm Hollo, translating, over the years, major works by William Carlos Williams, Allen Ginsberg, and Gregory Corso.
In 1969 the family moved to Iowa City, Iowa, where Josephine directed a production of 'The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds' and appeared in the role of Winnie in Becket's 'Happy Days', among others. Clare conducted creative writing workshops, and taught writing, drama and acting at the Scattergood School summer program. While still in Iowa, she published her first poetry chapbook, "Deutschland: A Sequence" (1970). In 1974, after the family's move to Geneva, she published her first full collection of poems, 'Deutschland and Other Places''. Josephine published widely in the 1970s, with work appearing in a range of journals, including in a ''Just Buffalo'' volume alongside Robert Creeley, Ed Dorn, Fielding Dawson and Bobbie Louise Hawkins and the first volume of "Ploughshares". In 1977, Ocotillo Press published ''Mammatocumulus'', which she completed, with the aid of a National Endowment for the Arts grant, at a residency in Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, New York. There she met her fellow poet, Hilda Morley, who became a steadfast friend. That same year, Clare was the recipient of a New York State Council for the Arts Creative Artists Public Service Award, which involved public outreach including a reading at Geneva City Hall, and four poetry workshops at a juvenile correctional institute. In June 1990, after the Wall came down and before reunification, Clare travelled with artist Gina Murtagh to Berlin. This resulted in the 1992 joint exhibition The Wall: Berlin-USA.
''Twelve'' (Potato Clock Signatures), which she dedicated to her son after his death in 1999, was published in 2002. During the 2000s she collaborated with artists and local arts organisations in writing essays for various newsletters and exhibitions. In 2024, her work was included in the journal Luigi Ten Co and she published a short collection, Some Journal Poems (Wry Press, 2024).
Josephine taught at a range of educational settings over the years, including Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Syracuse University, Goddard College, Finger Lakes Community College, Industry Residential Center, and Ontario County Jail. Apart from her writing, Josephine was involved in social justice issues in the Finger Lakes region, serving for a time as the director of the Geneva Women's Resource Centre and supporting the work of the NAACP, for which she was recognized by the local chapter.
Josephine was a great performer of her work, and over the years she was invited to read at a number of venues around the Finger Lakes region. She was a lover and acute observer of nature, and remembered by many for her humour and her kindness. Her sensitivity to the suffering of animals led to a range of waifs and strays coming into her care over the years.
She moved to Newburgh, NY in 2022 to live with her daughter, Tamsin. She enjoyed her walks with Tamsin by the Hudson, Newburgh arts events, the company of her cat Ensio, and reading poetry by 'video phone' with her daughter Kaarina. Despite memory issues, she was very much herself until the end. She suffered a stroke in January 2025, and died peacefully in hospice care on February 8th in Peekskill, NY. She is survived by her brother, Gerhard Wirkus of Pfullendorf, Germany; daughters, Tamsin Hollo of Newburgh NY, and Kaarina Hollo of Sheffield, UK; and a granddaughter.
A memorial will be held in the Finger Lakes in the Spring. Please reach out to clare.josephine@gmail.com for more information.