Opening Invocation | Jean-Paul de Dadelsen | Granta Magazine

Opening Invocation

Jean-Paul de Dadelsen

Translated by Marilyn Hacker

‘Or otherwise, leaving the shore of the intermediate sea, / has it been a while since they’ve gone ahead / into the interior of lands of the spirit?’

Jean-Paul de Dadelsen

Jean-Paul de Dadelsen (1913-1957) was born in Strasbourg, Alsace. He joined the Free French Forces during World War II and was a journalist for the BBC’s French Service after the war. Jonas, from which ‘Opening Invocation’ (published in Granta 125: After the war) is taken, was first published in French in 1962.

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Translated by Marilyn Hacker

Marilyn Hacker is the author of twelve books of poems, including Names, and has translated twelve collections of poetry from the French, most recently Rachida Madani's Tales of a Severed Head.

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