H.G. Adler survived the Holocaust and became one of the founding fathers of Holocaust scholarship.  The Journey, a work of experimental fiction, was neglected by Europeans upon its release 1962.  When writer and translator Peter Filkins came across the novel in a used bookstore in the U.S., he realized that Adler’s depiction was singular, moving, and modern.  The book was published by Random House in the fall of 2008.

Peter Filkins is a poet and translator. Previously he has translated the collected poems of Ingeborg Bachmann, Darkness Spoken, as well as her novels The Book of Franza and Requiem for Fanny Goldmann. His translation of H.G. Adler’s novel The Journey was published in fall 2008 by Random House. Previously his work has been awarded an Outstanding Translation Award from ALTA, a Berlin Prize from the American Academy in Berlin, and a Distinguished Translation Award from the Austrian Government. He teaches at Bard College at Simon’s Rock.

Recorded Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at Goethe-Institut Chicago.