Lambert Schlechter's "Literary Miniature" of Paul Celan

This morning my good friend, the Luxembourg writer Lambert Schlechter, sent via facebook a small text from his “Literary Miniatures” series as a parallel or coincident response to my Celan translation posted here yesterday. Here is Lambert’s text in my quick translation. This is #2 in the series:

PAUL CELAN

In 1948, Marie-Luise Kaschnitz resides for a time at the abbey of Royaumont in the company of other authors: literary meetings, conversations and readings.

During one of the panels a member of the staff comes to tell her that there is someone outside who wants to see her.

It turns out to be a pale young man, an immigrant who has just arrived from Czernowitz.

They take a walk in the park, red and gold, sit down on a bench and in a subdued voice the young poet reads a poem he has just written to his elder colleague; it is called « Todesfuge ».

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