Pierre Joris on Paul Celan and the Shoah

On December 3, 2013, Pierre Joris discussed Paul Celan’s poetry, with special focus on his response to the genocide of Europe’s Jews and others during World War II. The session, which I moderated, featured close readings of passages of “Death Fugue” and “Stretto.” Joris played an audio recording of Celan reading the first section of “Death Fugue,” and a newly discovered video recording made from Celan’s appearance on German television. Jean-Michel Rabaté, a member of the audience at this event, remembered Celan as a teacher. The video recording of the event is here, and the audio recording is here. The Writers House web calendar entry for the event can be found here.