“Reading can make us better” – An interview with Romanian-Moldovan writer Liliana Corobca

Born in the Republic of Moldova, LILIANA COROBCA is a novelist, essayist, and playwright whose work explores the fragile boundaries between history and memory, exile and belonging, censorship and resistance. She debuted with Negrissimo (2003), winner of multiple prizes, followed by A Year in Paradise (2005), Kinderland (2013), and The Old Maids’ Empire (2015). Her bold theatrical monologue Censorship for Beginners (2014) has been staged internationally, while The Censor’s Notebook (winner of the 2023 Oxford‑Weidenfeld Translation Prize), Kinderland, and her latest novel, Too Great a Sky, … Continue reading “Reading can make us better” – An interview with Romanian-Moldovan writer Liliana Corobca

Europe Calling: Liliana Corobca at European Literature Night 2025 in NYC

What do you get when you mix a night of high-caliber literary conversation with the kind of international flair only New York can deliver? European Literature Night, of course—a gathering that’s part salon, part cultural dispatch, and fully a feast for the mind. Now in its 7th edition, this annual celebration of storytelling returns to the city in a couple of days, spotlighting some of Europe’s … Continue reading Europe Calling: Liliana Corobca at European Literature Night 2025 in NYC

Prizonieri în universul virtual

Denaturarea realitǎții, disimulare, fals, minciunǎ, aparență, dedublare, măști, autocenzură – sub necurmatul asalt informațional dezlănțuit de progresul tehnologic, am întors de multe ori acești termeni pe toate părțile. Și nu sunt fără îndoială singura dintre membrii generației mele, ajunși la maturitate în comunism, cărora această temă de reflecție îi trezește amintiri neplăcute. Decenii după prăbușirea regimului comunist, iată-ne trăind într-o epocă a producțiilor online nesfârșite și amăgitoare, în care adevărul a devenit relativ, iar realitatea însăși e doar o construcție ai cărei parametri se modifică în funcție de unghiul și acuitatea privirii, dar și de interesele care dictează emisia de conținuturi pe internet. Bâjbâim printr-o lume a dezinformării, a proliferării narațiunilor mincinoase la o scară inimaginabilă anterior. În ciuda diferențelor de magnitudine și complexitate, asemănările cu sistemul totalitar pe care l-am cunoscut atât de bine sunt evidente. Mi se pare, deci, firesc să ne punem întrebarea dacă lecțiile acelei perioade, strategiile rezistenței pe care le-am perfecționat sub dictatură, ne-ar putea fi de folos și în prezentul controlat de tirania algoritmilor. Continue reading Prizonieri în universul virtual

A Romanian Voice for Truth and Beauty: Radu Vancu Joins PEN World Voices 2025

At the beginning of May, as the literary world descends on New York City for the 2025 edition of PEN World Voices, a forceful voice from Eastern Europe will ring out among the crowd. Radu Vancu, one of Romania’s most compelling contemporary poets, prose writers, diarists, essayists, and public intellectuals, is set to join the prestigious festival, bringing with him a body of work that … Continue reading A Romanian Voice for Truth and Beauty: Radu Vancu Joins PEN World Voices 2025

Ioana Nicolaie: “There’s a continuum of intensity and lived life in all my books”

One of the most original and powerful voices in contemporary Romanian literature, IOANA NICOLAIE is the author of six novels, five volumes of poetry, and ten children’s books, which have won her numerous literary awards. Her novel, Cartea Reghinei / The Book of Reghina was the winner of the 2020 Radio Romania Cultural Award, Observator Lyceum Prize, National Prose Prize Iași, and Book Agency Award. … Continue reading Ioana Nicolaie: “There’s a continuum of intensity and lived life in all my books”

A Romanian Literary Sensation: Mircea Cărtărescu, the multi-award-winning author of Solenoid, is back in New York

Mircea Cărtărescu, author of Solenoid, one of last years’ international literary sensations, and the most recent winner of the prestigious Dublin Literary Award, is back in New York. After an extensive US tour in 2023, which took him from one coast to the other, the Romanian author has returned to the American metropolis as writer-in-residence at the Harriman Institute at Columbia University, where he teaches … Continue reading A Romanian Literary Sensation: Mircea Cărtărescu, the multi-award-winning author of Solenoid, is back in New York

Romanian Authors in English Translation: A Bibliography

According to general belief, translations from Romanian into English are scarce and mostly unsatisfactory. In reality, the major libraries of the English-speaking world host more than 500 Romanian books in English translation, including most canonical titles, from which English readers can get a clear idea about the evolution of Romanian literature over more than 100 years. Although the translations are unequal and some of the … Continue reading Romanian Authors in English Translation: A Bibliography

Happy Birthday, Norman Manea!

Norman Manea, the doyen of Romanian writers in the diaspora, turns 88 today, and congratulations and tributes have been pouring in for several days, in the press and on social media. A survivor of the two evils of the 20th century, Nazism and Communism, who has spent part of his life in exile in the United States, Norman Manea is not only one of the … Continue reading Happy Birthday, Norman Manea!

Romanian Author Mircea Cărtărescu Wins Famous Dublin Literary Award

Thrilling news from Dublin: Mircea Cărtărescu has won the Dublin Literary Award, one of the most prestigious literary prizes in the world! The awarded book is his most recent novel in English translation, Solenoid, translated from the Romanian original by Sean Cotter and published by Texas-based Deep Vellum in 2022. It was considered one of the best books of the year in the United States, … Continue reading Romanian Author Mircea Cărtărescu Wins Famous Dublin Literary Award

“I translate for pleasure, as an intellectual challenge” – Interview with translator Gabi Reigh

GABI REIGH moved to the UK from Romania at the age of 12 and currently teaches English at a college in Hampshire. She won the Stephen Spender Prize 2017 for her translation of Marin Sorescu’s poem “Călătorul” and was shortlisted for the Tom-Gallon Society of Authors short story award. Her translations, original fiction and articles have been published in Modern Poetry in Translation, World Literature … Continue reading “I translate for pleasure, as an intellectual challenge” – Interview with translator Gabi Reigh