Happy birthday to Edith Bruck: 'My Author'

May 3 is Edith Bruck's birthday. Edith, or "my author."

That's how I refer to her, more often than not.

And I am here to wish her a happy (early) birthday.

This photo was taken in 2022 when we met for a second time at her apartment in Rome.

I'm eager to see her again so we can look through This Darkness Will Never End together!

Edith turns 94 this year! Whenever I call or email her, she tells me about her current projects. She's always working on something. She's also frequently quoted in the newspapers and she's appeared on Italian television hundreds of times (she worked in TV earlier in her career). All of this to say, her creativity and industriousness don't ever stop. She's constantly inspired by this world, even though it conspired against her and "swallowed up" her parents, her brother, her way of life.

If you want to learn more about Edith Bruck, go here.

If you want to read a sample of my translation, you can find a story called "Silvia" published in translation by Hunger Mountain here.

If you want to read some of Edith's poems, go here.

If you want to read about women survivors such as Edith Bruck and how their stories have been overlooked, take a look at this article I wrote for the American Scholar.

Tanti auguri a Edith!

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