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When Death Takes Something from You Give It Back

Page 10

by Naja Marie Aidt


  It is the 16th of March 2015, and Carl is dead.

  *

  NOTES

  The Rilke quotation on page vii is from “The Tenth Elegy,” translated from the German by Stephen Mitchell (Duino Elegies and the Sonnets to Orpheus, Vintage International, 2009).

  The quotations by Walt Whitman on pages 15 and 16 are from his poem “Song of Myself” (Leaves of Grass: The Deathbed Edition, Modern Library, 1993).

  “I’m loaded with bullets, no one should come to me with their soft shit,” page 19, is the author’s paraphrase of a line by Ursula Andkjær Olsen in Udgående Fartøj (Outgoing Vessel, Gyldendal, 2015).

  Quotations from Stéphane Mallarmé’s A Tomb for Anatole on pages 21, 26, 28–29, 32, 34–35, 64–65, 107, and 118 are translated from the French by Paul Auster (North Point Press, 1983).

  Quotations from Jacques Roubaud’s Some Thing Black on pages 21, 53, 54, 55, 60, 77, 94, 104, 106, and 107 are translated from the French by Rosmarie Waldrop (Dalkey Archive Press, 1990).

  Quotations by Anne Carson on pages 28, 63–64, and 74 are from Nox (New Directions, 2009).

  The quotation from Plato’s “Phaedo” on page 30 is translated from Ancient Greek by Hugh Tredennick and Harold Tarrant (The Last Days of Socrates, Penguin Books, 2003).

  Quotations by Emily Dickinson on pages 33 and 40–41 are from The Gorgeous Nothings (New Directions, 2013).

  The quotation by Jan Kochanowski on page 36 is from Laments, translated from the Polish by Seamus Heaney and Stanislaw Barańczak (Faber & Faber, 1995).

  The quotations on pages 37 and 103 by Inger Christensen are from Butterfly Valley: A Requiem, translated from the Danish by Susanna Nied (New Directions, 2003).

  The C. S. Lewis quotations on pages 42 and 48–49 are from A Grief Observed (HarperCollins, 1994).

  The quotations by Ásdís Sif Gunnarsdóttir on page 46 are from her poem, “Feminine Ways.”

  The quotations from Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Story of a Mother” on pages 60–61 are translated from the Danish by Jean Hersholt (Hans Christian Andersen Centre, The Complete Andersen, http://www.andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheStoryOfAMother_e.html).

  Quotations from Gilgamesh on pages 67–68 and 87 are translated from the Akkadian by Stephen Mitchell (Simon & Schuster, 2004).

  Quotations from Denise Riley’s Time Lived, Without Its Flow are on pages 77–78, 83, 99–100, and 118 (Capsule Editions, 2012).

  The quotation on page 88 is from Walt Whitman’s poem “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” (Leaves of Grass: The Deathbed Edition, Modern Library, 1993).

  Section about Hipponion on pages 102–103 incorporates phrases from the translation from the Ancient Greek (“The Hipponion Text,” Browsings: The Harper’s Blog, December 5, 2010, https://harpers.org/blog/2010/12/the-hipponion-text).

  The poems on pages 112–113 by the author are translated by Susanna Nied and Denise Newman.

  Definitions and encyclopedia entries are excerpted from Oxford English Dictionary, Webster’s New World Dictionary, and Wikipedia, and translated from Ordbog over det danske sprog, Store medisinske leksikon, and Den store danske encyklopædi.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  A heartfelt thanks to Line Knutzon, who ensured our survival during the first six weeks.

  Thanks to my Danish editor, Simon Pasternak, who patiently helped me edit this book.

  Thanks to everyone who has helped and supported me, accommodated me, talked to me, and wrote to me before, during, and after writing this book.

  Special thanks to:

  My huge family

  The grieving group

  Mette Moestrup

  Denise Newman

  Susanna Nied

  Mieke Chew

  Pejk Malinovski

  Pia Juul

  Helle Helle

  Jakob van Toornburg

  René Jean Jensen

  Anders Abildgaard

  Harald Voetmann

  Ditte Channo

  Pernille Fischer Christensen

  Kim Fupz Aakeson

  Nicole Carney

  Jason Shure

  Mindy Goldstein

  Sine Plambech

  Maria Vinterberg

  Mia Steensgaard

  Mette Mortensen

  Lulla Forchammer

  Shuki Foighel

  LITERATURE

  is not the same thing as

  PUBLISHING

  Coffee House Press began as a small letterpress operation in 1972 and has grown into an internationally renowned nonprofit publisher of literary fiction, essay, poetry, and other work that doesn’t fit neatly into genre categories.

  Coffee House is both a publisher and an arts organization. Through our Books in Action program and publications, we’ve become interdisciplinary collaborators and incubators for new work and audience experiences. Our vision for the future is one where a publisher is a catalyst and connector.

  Funder Acknowledgments

  Coffee House Press is an internationally renowned independent book publisher and arts nonprofit based in Minneapolis, MN; through its literary publications and Books in Action program, Coffee House acts as a catalyst and connector—between authors and readers, ideas and resources, creativity and community, inspiration and action.

  Coffee House Press books are made possible through the generous support of grants and donations from corporations, state and federal grant programs, family foundations, and the many individuals who believe in the transformational power of literature. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to the legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Coffee House also receives major operating support from the Amazon Literary Partnership, Jerome Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Target Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). To find out more about how NEA grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.

  Coffee House Press receives additional support from the Elmer L. & Eleanor J. Andersen Foundation; the David & Mary Anderson Family Foundation; Bookmobile; Dorsey & Whitney LLP; Foundation Technologies; Fredrikson & Byron, P.A.; the Fringe Foundation; Kenneth Koch Literary Estate; the Matching Grant Program Fund of the Minneapolis Foundation; Mr. Pancks’ Fund in memory of Graham Kimpton; the Schwab Charitable Fund; Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner, P.A.; the Silicon Valley Community Foundation; and the U.S. Bank Foundation.

  The Publisher’s Circle of Coffee House Press

  Publisher’s Circle members make significant contributions to Coffee House Press’s annual giving campaign. Understanding that a strong financial base is necessary for the press to meet the challenges and opportunities that arise each year, this group plays a crucial part in the success of Coffee House’s mission.

  Recent Publisher’s Circle members include many anonymous donors, Suzanne Allen, Patricia A. Beithon, the E. Thomas Binger & Rebecca Rand Fund of the Minneapolis Foundation, Andrew Brantingham, Robert & Gail Buuck, Dave & Kelli Cloutier, Louise Copeland, Jane Dalrymple-Hollo & Stephen Parlato, Mary Ebert & Paul Stembler, Kaywin Feldman & Jim Lutz, Chris Fischbach & Katie Dublinski, Sally French, Jocelyn Hale & Glenn Miller, the Rehael Fund-Roger Hale/Nor Hall of the Minneapolis Foundation, Randy Hartten & Ron Lotz, Dylan Hicks & Nina Hale, William Hardacker, Randall Heath, Jeffrey Hom, Carl & Heidi Horsch, the Amy L. Hubbard & Geoffrey J. Kehoe Fund, Kenneth & Susan Kahn, Stephen & Isabel Keating, Julia Klein, the Kenneth Koch Literary Estate, Cinda Kornblum, Jennifer Kwon Dobbs & Stefan Liess, the Lambert Family Foundation, the Lenfestey Family Foundation, Joy Linsday Crow, Sarah Lutman & Rob Rudolph, the Carol & Aaron Mack Charitable Fund of the Minneapolis Foundation, George & Olga Mack, Joshua Mack & Ron Warren, Gillian McCain, Malcolm S. McDermid & Katie Windle, Mary & Malcolm McDermid, Sjur Midness & Briar Andresen, Maureen Millea Smith & Daniel Smith, Peter Nelson & Jennifer Swenson, Enrique & Jennifer Olivarez, Alan Polsky, Marc Porter & James Hennessy, Robin Preble, Alexis Scott, Ruth Stricker Dayton,
Jeffrey Sugerman & Sarah Schultz, Nan G. & Stephen C. Swid, Kenneth Thorp in memory of Allan Kornblum & Rochelle Ratner, Patricia Tilton, Joanne Von Blon, Stu Wilson & Melissa Barker, Warren D. Woessner & Iris C. Freeman, and Margaret Wurtele.

  For more information about the Publisher’s Circle and other ways

  to support Coffee House Press books, authors, and activities,

  please visit www.coffeehousepress.org/pages/support

  or contact us at info@coffeehousepress.org.

  This project was made possible

  through generous support from

  THE DANISH ARTS FOUNDATION

  When Death Takes Something from You Give It Back

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