morebedsidebooks's review
3.0
Anise Koltz is a treasure of European poetry, (for American readers she’s been compared to Emily Dickinson) and won recognition in several countries. Born in Luxembourg in 1928 she is a woman making use of three languages (German, French and Luxembourgish) in her decades spanning work which also includes translation and books for children. But originally writing in German she turned to expressing herself in French after her husband’s early death contributed to by torture he underwent during the Nazi occupation. Aux Banquts du Diable, At the Devil’s Banquets is a bilingual collection of some of her French poetry from titles published in the 1990s translated by award winning Irish poet John F. Deane. The poems cover subjects such as mothers and children, writing and God. All carrying quite a punch. Her pen has power. A simple and slim volume at 84 pages, it leaves something with the reader long after closing the cover.
Il exprime des choses
qui échappent
à la parole
Son poème enseigne
ce qu’il ne sait pas
He expresses things
which escape
words
His poem teaches
things he does not know
—Extract from “The Poet”
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