Hundreds of little steps, seemingly, are behind the publishing of a book, in this case a translation of a short story collection by Edith Bruck. Conferring with the editor at Paul Dry Books, my publisher. Conferring with the marketing executive. Contacting bookstores about the possibility of holding a reading.
All of this after spending a year translating the book!
So, lots of work but what a hum there is in my little heart! What a labor of love it has been. I am grateful for:
*Translating a book from Italian, which is such a vital part of my life it feels like a twin that follows me everywhere.
*Translating a 1962 classic that's been overlooked by the Anglophone world, and one that's by a woman author.
*And translating a writer whose experiences of the Holocaust have forced me to conclude I don't know enough about this critical period of history -- and I never will. So I will simply study it for the rest of my life.
As I noted in an article for the American Scholar about the work of women survivors, the experiences of women often offer a different perspective on the Holocaust but it's one that's sometimes been marginalized or forgotten so I still have so much to discover.
Oh and the book has its own page on the publisher's site. Here it is:
https://www.pauldrybooks.com/products/this-darkness-will-never-end
Edith once called Auschwitz "the University of Evil," but she said, "You also discover light in the darkness."
The book will be published in April -- so please, stay tuned.
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