Abend Der Worte

“Poet’s Choice in the Washington Post” by Robert Hass (October 27, 1996)

Robert Hass discusses a translation of "Todesfugue"/ “Death Fugue" from John Felstiner's book Paul Celan: Poet, Survivor, Jew in this article. Hass also touches on Breathturn, a book of Celan’s later poetry translated by Pierre Joris. However, much of the article focuses on providing context about Celan’s life to understand the poet’s work. Hass explains that Celan “is such an important figure because he was one of the first German-language artists of the postwar period to face the question of how it was possible to continue to make art out of the German language after the horror of Dachau and Auschwitz.”

“Anselm Kiefer revisits Paul Celan's poetic Holocaust memorial” by Deutche Welle staff (2021)

This article introduces an art exhibition by Anselm Kiefer, “the most French of all German artists,” reflecting on the Holocaust and the works of Paul Celan. Entitled “For Paul Celan,” the exhibition demonstrated Paul Celan’s importance to not only Germany, but also to his adopted home of Paris. The article outlines the ongoing influence of the artist and the poet in their respective fields, and considers common themes in their works.

“Paul Celan Translating Others” by John Felstiner (2014)

This extensive article summarizes Celan als Übersetzer (1997), an extremely detailed book about Paul Celan’s work as a translator, some of which was completed while the poet was imprisoned in a Nazi work camp. The article notes Celan’s deep reverence for historically important poets, especially Shakespeare. Furthermore, in considering the subjects Celan chose to translate (English and French poets), the article also supplies useful biographical and contextual details about the poetic and literary spheres through which Celan moved.

Celebrating Paul Celan: An Evening with Pierre Joris and Paul Auster (2020)

This video from Deutsches Haus at NYU brings together Celan’s translator Pierre Joris, writer and director Paul Auster, and NYU Professor Ulrich Baer. The recording contains readings from Celan’s books Memory Rose into Threshold Speech and Microliths They Are, Little Stones (both translated by Joris) in honor of the 100th anniversary of Celan’s birthday.