C is for...Celan and Calvino
Happy Thursday, fellow A-Zers, and welcome to the letter C. Today is all about: Paul Celan and Italo Calvino. Paul Celan (1920-1970) A Romanian poet and translator, Paul Celan is best known for his Holocaust writing, especially "Todesfuge," and his belief that writing in the German language was the only way to effectively address the atrocities suffered during the war. Both of Celan's parents died in labor camps and he was imprisoned from 1942 to 1944 when the Russian army evacuated all Romanian camps. Celan suffered extreme guilt in regards to his parents' deaths and used his writing as a way to convey these feelings. He would eventually flee Eastern Europe, settling in Paris where he published his first collection of poetry, Der Sand aus den Urnen ( The Sand from the Urns ), in 1948. At the time, many found his poetry too harsh sounding, but Celan eventually became known as the Holocaust writer. He committed suicide jumping in to...