Jason Hegenderfer

Jason Frederick Hegenderfer (born February 16th, 1975) is a German-Canadian artist and poet. Hegenderfer has been credited with over one hundred poems, ranging from German to English. He is most well known for his poems A Famous Tragedy, To all those listening, A Calendar Confused, Foliage, and Trágicamente Enamorado.

Early Life

Hegenderfer was born in Vancouver, British Columbia despite his parents being born in East-Germany. Having no brothers and sisters, Jason was an independent student, forming no social connections to his peers. He found his true calling in grade eleven, when he began reading Shakespeare. Drawn to the words, Hegenderfer realized his true calling was not in Science, which he had originally been fascinated with, but with poetry. He began writing poetry and presenting them to his parents, who adored his new fascination with the arts. He even began learning German to better understand poetry and readings from his heritage. He later attended McGill University in Quebec.

Career

Hegenderfer wrote poems not for recognition, but to translate his thoughts and emotions into text. Most of his poems were never published, but were posted online on his blog. Though many of his poems were written in English, he also wrote several poems in German.

Personal Life

Hegenderfer was married to his wife Elaina Steele of seven years. Despite their efforts, Steele filed for divorce on January 6th, 2004. His parents both passed away in 2001, which left him in a very fragile state. Following the divorce and the passing of his parents, some of Hegenderfer's best work was produced. It's believed that the raw emotion that he suffered helped to influence his poetry.