Paul Celan

A Life

By: Anna Arno, Soren Gauger (Translator)

Write A Review

Hardcover | 9 June 2026 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Hardcover
416 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
24.2 x 16.8 x 3.6

Hardcover

RRP $61.95

$61.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $15.44 with

Ships in 5 to 10 business days

A luminous, groundbreaking biography of one of the most important literary figures of the twentieth century, best known for the poem "Death Fugue."

Paul Celan (1920-1970) was recognized as the greatest poet of the German language shortly before his tragic death just shy of his fiftieth birthday, when he drowned himself in the Seine. He described his "Todesfuge" ("Death Fugue") as a "tombstone" for his mother, who perished in the Holocaust. Celan's work is often viewed as a rejoinder to Theodor Adorno's dictum that it was barbaric to write poetry after Auschwitz.

While the commentary on Celan's contributions to poetics and Holocaust literature is voluminous, little has been written about his life itself. Anna Arno provides the definitive biography. Paul Celan: A Life follows the poet from his birthplace, Czernowitz (today Chernivtsi, Ukraine), to Bucharest, where he was part of an important circle of Surrealists, then onto Vienna, where he met and fell in love with Ingeborg Bachmann, and finally to Paris. Although in his final years he was haunted by bouts of mental illness, his life cannot be defined by its implosion. Paul Celan was an ardent, inveterate romantic whose many meaningful relationships left their mark on his poetry. He also cultivated intense, often fraught dialogues with such thinkers as Rene Char, Yves Bonnefoy, and Martin Heidegger.

Drawing upon a linguistically wide range of archival sources and the most up-to-date research, Arno presents a complete picture of Celan's life. Here is the essential story of a towering figure in modern poetry.

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $79.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.