Happy Birthday Herta Muller!

On 17 August 1953, Herta Muller was born into a Romanian-German family. Many years and novels later, she won the Nobel prize for literature.

Happy Birthday Gabriela Adamesteanu!

Born April 2, 1942, Gabriela Adamesteanu enriched Romanian literature with her novels, short stories, essays, news paper columns, and translations.

To celebrate her birthday, grab one of her acclaimed novels and read it under a leafy tree in the park:
The Equal Way of Every Day (1975)
Wasted Morning (1983)
The Meeting (2003)

Now It’s Autumn, by Mihai Eminescu

Unfortunately this isn’t one of the best translations of the poem, but until I find a better one (or until I translate it myself) I wanted to share this lovely poem with you all:

Now It’s Autumn, by Mihai Eminescu

Now it’s autumn, leaves roam and scatter,
Again the wind flings heavy drops against the glazing;
And you’re reading old letters, tattered and fading
And retrace a whole life-time in just one hour.

With sweet trifles you enjoy such time-wasting,
You’d hate to be disturbed by a tap on the shutter;
For when it’s sleeting outside, it’s so much better
To dream by the fireside, sleepily nodding.

So I stay in my chair, staring into the fire,
Dreaming of old tales and a fairy queen’s sighs;
Around me the mist rises higher and higher;

Suddenly the rustling of silk makes me rise,
Steps so soft, barely touched by the old floor . . .
Then with slender, icy hands you hide my eyes.

Translated on romanianvoice from the original poem:

Afară-i Toamnă, de Mihai Eminescu
Afară-i toamnă, frunza ‘mprăştiată,
Iar vântul svârlă ‘n geamuri grele picuri;
Şi tu citeşti scrisori din roase plicuri
Şi într’un ceas gândeşti la viaţa toată.

Pierzându-ţi timpul tău cu dulci nimicuri,
N-ai vrea ca nimeni ‘n uşa ta să bată;
Dar şi mai bine-i, când afară-i sloată,
Să stai visând la foc, de somn să picuri.

Şi eu astfel mă uit din jet de gânduri,
Visez la basmul vechiu al zânei Dochii,
În juru-mi ceaţa creşte rânduri-rânduri;

De odat’aud foşnirea unei rochii,
Un moale pas abia atins de scânduri…
Iar mâni subţiri şi reci mi-acoper ochii.

Adrian Păunescu, National Romanian Poet, Passes Away

Adrian Păunescu, Romanian poet, journalist, and politician, passed away earlier this morning.

Adrian Păunescu was more than a friend. He was my brother. I swear on my honor as a revolutionary that Păunescu will be greater than [Mihai] Eminescu. Only after one’s death do you realize what one represented…
Constantin Bebe Ivanovici. (quote from Evenimentul Zilei)

You can find two of Păunescu’s poems translated into English here.

The Int’l Literature Festival at Bucharest: 28-30 Oct 2010

The third edition of the International Literature Festival at Bucharest (FILB) will take place 28-30 October, beginning at 6 pm at the Romanian Peasant Museum (Muzeului Ţăranului Român). This year’s theme is “Re-Writing the Map of Europe.” Noteworthy writers from Hungary, Montenegro, Georgia, Croatia, and Romania will present public lectures and debates. Romanian writers include Petre Cimpoeşu, Cristian Teodorescu, Adriana Babeţi, Varujan Vosganian, O. Nimigean, and Dan Sociu.

For more information, view the organizing website here.

Resources: ICR-New York Website

Interested in finding a Romanian literature event in your area? Want to see the most up-to-date list of Romanian works translated into English? Do you want an index of Romanian study programs?

Then you should probably look into the Romanian Cultural Institute’s [Institutul Cultural Roman] New York chapter website here.

Coming Up: Profiles of Romanian Literature Departments

Are you interested in studying literature at a Romanian university? Over the next couple of months I will profile the top university literature departments, including the following:

Universitatea din Bucuresti
Universitatea de Vest in Timisoara
Universitatea “Babes-Bolyai” in Cluj
Universitatea “Transilvania” in Braşov
Universitatea Oradea in Bihor

If you are a student or graduate of the above schools and would like to contribute to these profiles, please leave a comment below. Also, if you attend a school not listed above and would like to see it profiled, please contact me.

Warsaw Int’l Film Festival Shows Romanian Film

The Romanian film “Eu Cand Vreau sa Fluier, Fluier” [If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle] is included in the 2010 edition of The Warsaw International Film Festival (8-17 October), competing in the 1-2 category. According to newspaper Realitatea Romana, tickets for the three screenings were already sold out on Sunday at noon, testifying to the film’s rising popularity.

Additionally, “Eu Cand Vreau sa Fluier, Fluier,” directed by Florin Serban won the grand jury prize and the Silver Bear of “Alfred Bauer” at the 60th annual Berlin Film Festival earlier this year. It was the first film in 17 years to enter the official competition. It is also the Romanian Academy’s proposal for the 2011 Oscars.

Watch the trailer here.

Herta Muller in Bucharest, 27-28 September

Nobel Prize winner Herta Muller will come to Bucharest next week, 27-28 September, to the delight of bookies book-lovers across the country. Monday evening at 6:30 pm Muller will appear with Romanian Gabriel Liiceanu, himself a prolific author and also founder of Humanitas Publishing House, in a discussion that will most likely center on the topics of censorship and literary freedom. Additionally, Tuesday at 5 pm Humanitas will launch its new author series in honor of Herta Muller at one of its bookstores; the event will be followed by a book signing.

For more information, visit Humanitas’ website here.

Ultima Noapte de Dragoste: Film Adaptation

Watch a film adaptation of Ultima Noapte de Dragoste (Last Night of Love), by Camil Petrescu on youtube here. I wish these films were subtitled in English. But for my Romanian readers out there: go watch it if you don’t have time to read it!