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Bucharest Tales

Christopher Bakken (b. 1967, Wisconsin) has authored two collections: Goat Funeral (2006) and After Greece (2001), for which he received the T.S. Eliot Poetry Prize. A Fulbright Scholar (Bucharest University 2008). He is an Associate English Professor at Allegheny College, Pennsylvania.

Florin Bican (b. 1956, Bucharest) is a writer, translator and journalist. A native of Bucharest, he contrives to leave for long enough to appreciate the occasional homecoming. He chaperons those who come to Bucharest to understand, appreciate, and translate Romanian literature.

A. Bo (b. Dreamtime, Ukraine) recently surfaced on Closed Circuit TV, Medieval Flash, and No Tube. Influenced by James Joyce, Relative Caravanning, and Absolut Vodka, his scratchings can be peeled off unpublished Bach.

Mircea Cărtărescu (b. 1956, Bucharest) has published poetry, short stories, novels, and essays which have attracted both acclaim and contention.

Dan Mircea Cipariu (b. 1972, Bucharest) studied journalism at Bucharest University. A member of the Romanian Writers Union and poetry president of the Bucharest Writers’ Association, his book Tsunami received the Writers Asciaţiei Bucharest 2007.

Denisa Comanescu (b. 1954, Buzau, Romania) is a poet, translator, and editor, After Bucharest University she joined Univers Publishing. She won the 1979 Debut Prize of the Romanian Writers Union. Since 1990, she has been the Secretary of the Romanian PEN.

James G. Coon (b. 1950, Cincinnati, USA) is a founding editor of New Europe Writers. Currently a resident of Bangkok, he is a frequent visitor to that wondrous land located between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge.

Traian T. Coșovei (b. 1954) patronised the Sadoveanu bookshop and developed an interest in Sartre, Camus, Baudelaire, and Faulkner. A free spirit and maverick, his poetry reflects that of Mariana Marin Cărtărescu Mircea Alexandru Muşina, Florin Andrei Iaru, or Bodiu.

Flavia Cosma (b. Romania) A Canadian poet with a Masters in electrical engineering, she then studied drama for two years. In Romania she worked in sound for radio and television and now as an independent producer/director/writer for TV documentaries.

Dan Danila (b. 1954, Şura Mică, Romania) is a poet, translator, and painter. Living in Leonberg, Germany since 1990, his poems, short stories, translations, and graphics have been published by leading literary magazines in Romania, Germany, Denmark, Canada and the U.S.

Nick Drake (b. 1961) is based in London. His The Man in the White Suit won the Forward Prize in 1999, and a novel Nefertiti: The Book of the Dead was published in 2006. He has recently adapted Petit’s To Reach the Clouds for the stage and wrote a screenplay for Romulus, My Father

Helena Drysdale (b. London) studied Art and History at Cambridge and worked at Walker Books before reviewing then editing contemporary art magazine Artscribe. Her works include Looking for George, Mother Tongues, Travels through Tribal Europe, and Strangerland.

Andrew Fincham (b. 1964, England) is a poet, editor and co-founder of New Europe Writers. His poetry has appeared in over a dozen anthologies. The bilingual Centre of Gravity (Ibis 2004) received the UNESCO / Poezja Dzisiaj award for foreign poetry in Poland.

Carmen Firan (b. Romania) has published twenty books of poetry, novels, essays, and short stories. Living in New York since 2000, her writings appear in translations in France, Israel, Sweden, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Canada, UK, and the USA

JoAnne Growney grew up in Pennsylvania where the wooded mountains resemble those of Romania. A maths professor, she has published three collections of poems, including Red Has No Reason and co-translated George Bakovia, Ileana Malancioiu, and Nichita Stanescu.

Ioana Ieronim (b. 1947) is a poet, translator, and playwright. She authored Triumph of the Waterwitch, short-listed for the Sir Weidenfeld Prize, Oxford. Her collections in English include Omnivorous Syllables and The Lens of a Flame.

Igor Isakovski (b. 1970, Skopje, Macedonia) is a poet, prose writer, translator, and editor. He has studied Comparative Literature and Gender and Culture (CEU, Budapest, Hungary). He founded the Cultural Institution Blesok.

David Hill (b. England, 1971) lives in Washington and has published Angels and Astronauts, Bald Ambition, and Consumed. He edits the free poetry quarterly Lyriklife. An avid poetry performer, he founded The Budapest Bardroom.

Sándor Kányádi (b. 1929, Transylvania) has lived his life in Romania where he has endeavoured, through his work as writer, translator, and editor, to keep his language and culture alive amidst an often hostile environment. He is the recipient of many European literature awards.

Dan Lungu (b. 1969, Romania) is a writer, literary theorist and sociologist. His works include short stories Cheta la flegmă, the novels Raiul găinilor and Sînt o babă comunistă! A former editor in chief of the newspaper Timpul, now he lectures at the University of Iaşi.

Ion Munteanu (b. 1961, Mălăieşti village, Goieşti of Dolj) attended Bucharest University, and taught in Convasna until becoming a journalist in 1984. His works include Rivers in Flames, Confessions to a Silent Angel and In This Friendly Jungle. He presently lives in Craiova City.

Adrian Păunescu (1943-2010) was a Romanian poet, journalist, and politician. Though criticised for praising dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu, he was called ‘Romania’s most famous poet’ in an Associated Press story quoted in the New York Times.

Simona Popescu (b.1965, Codlea, Braşov) Currently teaches contemporary Romanian literature and creative writing at Bucharest University. Author of many volumes of poetry, essays, and one novel. She coordinated a collective novel published as Rubik (2008).

Ioan Es. Pop (b. 1958, Vãrai, Romania) has a degree in Literature from Baia Mare University. In 1989, he was granted permission to move to Bucharest to worked as a building worker constructing the ‘House of the People.’ He lives in Bucharest editing Ziarul de duminică and Descoperă.

Constantin Preda (b. 1961, Damian, Romania) studied journalism at Bucharest University. A member of the Romanian Writers Union, he has edited The Word of Liberty, Gazeta de Sud, National, 7 Plus, and Meridian. He is a the literary and artistic director of Special Edition of Oltenia.

Mike Ormsby (b. 1959, Ormskirk, Merseyside, U.K.) is a writer, editor, and journalism trainer. Romanian literary critics have dubbed him ‘our British Caragiale.’.Based in Bucharest, he is the author of “Never Mind the Balkans, Here’s Romania” published by Compania.

Ioana-Raluca Raducanu (b. 1981 Cluj Napaica) is currently an Advertising Art Director. A winner of awards in The Romanian Literary Contests, she has written a libretto for an opera called Harap-Alb, composed by Anamaria Meza.

Raluca Rodica Ratiu (b.1982 Arad, Romania 1982) studies Law in Italy. She writes poems in Italian, Romanian, and English and competes in national and international literary contests. In 2008 she was a guest at the Carribean Literary Festival and collaborates with Jamaican poets.

Ionel (Johnny) Riti (b. Transylvania, 1955) is a civil engineer from Brasov and graphic designer. His also authors epigrams and crossword squares.

Jennifer Robertson (b. The Orkneys, U.K.) has lived in Edinburgh, St Petersburg, Warsaw, and Barcelona. She has authored of 25 books, including poetry (Ghetto, Beyond the Border, Loss and Language) and prose (Don’t Go to Uncle’s Wedding – Voices of the Warsaw Ghetto).

Doina Ruşti grew up in Comoşteni, Romania. She has authored prize-winning novels, including The Little Red Man, Convorbiri literare, Zogru, and Fantoma din Moară.

Paul Sohar (b. Hungary) drifted as a young refugee to the US where he obtained a BA in philosophy and worked as a lab assistant. Translation helped him break into print, including Kenyon Rattle and Seneca Reviews, and Dancing Embers, Sandor Kanyadi in translation.

Saviana Stanescu (b. Bucharest) was born during Ceausescu’s dictatorship and ‘reborn’ in New York. Performed both in the US and internationally, her recent plays include: Aliens with extraordinary skills, Waxing West, and YokastaS Redux, (with Richard Schechner).

Bogdan Suceavă (b. 1969, Romania) is Associate Mathematics Professor at California State University. He writes short stories, including recently translated: Daddy Wants TV Saturday Night, Natural Bridge, Rubik Cube Story, and Grandpa Got Back to French.

Stelian Tanase (b. 1952, Bucharest, Romania) first novel The Luxury of Melancholy was published in 1982. Currently working as a television presenter, he teaches political science at the University of Bucharest. His novel, Maestro: A Melodrama, appeared this year, and he recently finished a new novel, Pavlov’s Dogs.

Grete Tartler (b. 1948, Romania) has published 12 volumes of poetry in Romanian and German, and much literature for children. She lives in Bucharest.

Lucian Dan Teodorovici (b. 1975) is the co-ordinator of Polirom’s ‘Ego. Prose’ series and edits Suplimentul de cultură. Former editor-in-chief at Jassy, he scripts the Animated Planet Show, and has written screenplays for the feature-length film adaptation of Our Circus Presents.

Călin Torsan was first discovered on the cover of a book of the Old Court, Small and Medium Business Stories. He has also been published in The Book of Waste, School of Martyrs, and the Recycle Right.