In Search of Kafka: A Conversation with Ross Benjamin

Vassar alum Ross Benjamin discusses his Guggenheim Scholarship-funded work: an essential new translation of Kafka’s complete, uncensored diaries — a revelation of the idiosyncrasies and rough edges of one of the twentieth century’s most influential writers. By faithfully reproducing the diaries’ distinctive — and often surprisingly unpolished — writing in Kafka’s notebooks, Benjamin brings to light not only the author’s use of the diaries for literary experimentation and private self-expression but also their value as a work of art in themselves.

Sponsored by the German Studies Department, the Jewish Studies Program, the English Department, and the Vassar Libraries.