 Green
Integer 113
ISBN:
1-931243-68-9
Trade
Paperback: $12.95
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Lightduress
Paul
Celan
Translated
from the German
with
an Introduction by Pierre
Joris /
A
Bilingual Edition
Recipient
of the 2005 PEN Award
for Poetry in Translation
The
last volume of poems
connected with what
Paul Celan described
as "die
Wende" ("the
turn")
Lightduress was
written
between June and
December
in 1967, and appeared
approximately
three months after
the poet's
suicide in 1970.
1967,
the year in
which he composed
most of this book,
had been a difficult
year for Celan,
beginning
with Claire Goll,
the
widow of poet Yvan
Goll, wrongly
accusing him of
plagiarizing
her husband's
poetry. Five days
later, Celan attempted
suicide with a knife
aimed at his heart.
From mid-February
until mid-October
he was interned
at
the Saint-Anne
psychiatric hospital,
and only in late
April
was allowed
to travel.
In the same month
he and Gisle Celan-Lestrange,
after difficult
discussions,
concluded
that a separation
was necessary, and
Celan started to
look
for an apartment
in Paris . During
this same period,
on the other hand,
Celan
wrote more
than half of the
poems of Threadsuns
and a major part
of this volume,
and
in July he traveled
to Germany , leacturing
at the University
of Freiburg-im-Brisgau
to a large audience
that included the
philosopher Martin
Heidegger. By October,
Breathturn began
to receive its first
positive reviews
and
Celan moved
in to a small apartment
in the 5th arrondissement.
This long-awaited
translation by the
noted poet and translator
Pierre Joris, represents,
along with Breathturn
and Threadsuns (both
also available from
Green Integer) the
mature expression
of one of the most
important poets
of
the 20th century.
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