Winter Roses
- Winter Roses
Adieu, Susan. One of the first times I met her—it was in Milan—Susan talked to me about Robert Walser, the writer who wanted to be nothing; she seemed to know him well. She mentioned his courteous irony, his airy disregard for nightmares, that moving beyond despair. Now Robert Walser, along with Kleist, will come to say a last goodbye and, like the Pied Piper of Hamelin, will lead the procession, the ceremony. They, the flaneurs of the shadows, will encircle the garden, protect her on this journey, this coming and going, and welcome her into their brotherhood. Bowing, they will usher her through the door without door. Robert Walser, a little gruff and shy, comes to meet her in person. By way of tribute, he offers the writer a bouquet of little roses that he picked for her, coated with frost.
Fleur Jaeggy's novels in English translation include S. S. Proleterka, Sweet Days of Discipline, and Last Vanities. In Italy, she has been awarded the Bagutta, Boccaccio Europa, Moravia, and Viareggio Prizes, as well as, most recently, the Premio Donna Città di Roma.
Ann Goldstein received the Renato Poggioli Award from PEN for her translation of Aldo Buzzi's Journey to the Land of Flies; she has also translated works by Pier Paolo Pasolini, Alessandro Baricco, and Giuseppe Genna.
