Gilad Shiram

Gilad Shiram is a PhD candidate in the Department of German Studies at Stanford University and a graduate affiliate at Stanford’s Taube Center for Jewish Studies. He is interested in poetry and poetics, translation, and philosophy, as well as German-Jewish and Polish-Jewish literature, culture, and thought.

His current research explores the works of twentieth-century Jewish poets who wrote in German, Polish, and Hebrew during the interwar and postwar periods. Focusing on figures such as Zuzanna Ginczanka, Zelda Schneurson, and Paul Celan, the research aims to explore the roles and potentials of poetry during times of existential crises. The main quest of this investigation is to understand how and why these poets, profoundly impacted by the unprecedented historical events of their time, utilized elements of nature and nonhuman objects to rethink the human experience in the context of modernity, enlightenment, and the unparalleled tragic events of the twentieth century.

Before joining Stanford, Gilad completed his MA in literature at Tel Aviv University, where he had previously graduated from the Adi Lautman Interdisciplinary Program for Outstanding Students. His master's thesis, "Poetry and Breath: On the Language of Paul Celan’s Verse," provided a foundational exploration of Paul Celan's philosophy of poetics. This examination, which focused on Celan's concept of the "breath-turn" (Atemwende), also laid the groundwork for his current comparative multilingual research project at Stanford.

Gilad is a 2023-24 recipient of the Ric Weiland Graduate Fellowship, the Stanford - Freie University Berlin Graduate Exchange Award, and the CREEES Graduate Summer Travel and Research Grant. Previously, he was a recipient of The Stanford Club of Germany Essay Prize for the Best Advanced Graduate Student Essay; The Frances K. and Theodore H. Geballe Fellowship in Jewish Studies; The Keith P. Bartel Graduate Fellowship in Jewish Studies; and The Reinhard Fellowship in Jewish Studies.

He also published Hebrew translations of poems by the German poet Barbara Köhler in the literary magazine HO! and a piece by the Polish-Jewish poet Zuzanna Ginczanka in HaMusach online literary journal, and served as an editor at Mantis: A Journal of Poetry, Criticism, and Translation.

Teaching at Stanford:

• Spring 2023: Rainer Maria Rilke: Poetry and the Meaning of Life (co-teaching with Professor Amir Eshel)
• Winter 2023: Gerlang 3 (first-year German, third quarter)
• Autumn 2022: Gerlang 2 (first-year German, second quarter)
• Winter 2021: Gerlang 2 (first-year German, second quarter)
• Autumn 2020: Gerlang 1 (first-year German, first quarter)

Languages: Hebrew, English, German, and Polish