Paul Celan was born in 1920 in the East European province of Bukovina. Soon after his parents, German-speaking Jews, had perished at the hands of the Nazis, Celan wrote "Todesfuge" ("Deathfugue"), the most compelling poem to emerge from the Holocaust. Self-exiled in Paris, for twenty-five years Celan continued writing in his German mother tongue, although it had "passed through the thousand darknesses of deathbringing speech." His writing purges and remakes that language, often achieving a hope-struck radiance never before seen in modern poetry. But in 1970, his psychic wounds unhealed, Celan drowned himself in the Seine. This landmark volume includes youthful lyrics, unpublished poems, and prose. All poems appear in the original and in translation on facing pages. John Felstiner's translations stem from a twenty-year immersion in Celan's life and work. John Bayley wrote in the New York Review of Books, "Felstiner translates ... brilliantly."



About the Author
Paul Celan was a poet and translator born in the East European province of Bukovina. Soon after his parents, German-speaking Jews, had perished at the hands of the Nazis, Celan wrote the poem "Todesfuge" ("Deathfugue"), which depicted life in a German concentration camp. John Felstiner is the author of Paul Celan: Poet, Survivor, Jew. He teaches at Stanford University.

Awards
Winner of MLA Lois Roth Award 2000 and PEN Center USA Literary Award for Translation 2001 and PEN/West Translation Award 2001 and New York Times Notable Selection 2000. Joint winner of American Translation Society German Translation Prize 2017.



Book Information
ISBN 9780393322248
Author Paul Celan
Format Paperback
Page Count 466
Imprint WW Norton & Co
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Weight(grams) 714g
Dimensions(mm) 236mm * 155mm * 23mm