“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

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

“To become a translator takes infinite work” – Interview with award-winning translator Sean Cotter

SEAN COTTER is Professor of Literature and Literary Translation at The University of Texas at Dallas. He has translated numerous important works of Romanian literature, including Wheel with a Single Spoke and Other Poems by Nichita Stănescu, for which he received the Three Percent Best Translated Book Award 2013, Blinding: the Left Wing by Mircea Cărtărescu (Archipelago Books, 2013), Curl by T.O. Bobe (Wakefield Press, 2019), a finalist for the Derek Walcott Prize … Continue reading “To become a translator takes infinite work” – Interview with award-winning translator Sean Cotter

New Books in Translation: 2023 (with a look back to 2022)

Romanian literature has so far had a hard time conquering the English speaking world. The (in)famous 3-4%, referring to the share of translations of the total annual publications in the US and UK, has become an obsession among translators, authors, agents, and literary promoters. The percentage is similar on the two sides of the Atlantic and has moved, albeit very slightly, upwards in recent years. … Continue reading New Books in Translation: 2023 (with a look back to 2022)