About the Author

Paul Celan was a poet and translator born in the East European province of Bukovina. Soon after his parents, German-speaking Jews, had perished at the hands of the Nazis, Celan wrote the poem "Todesfuge" ("Deathfugue"), which depicted life in a German concentration camp. John Felstiner is the author of Paul Celan: Poet, Survivor, Jew. He teaches at Stanford University.