While the pandemic seems to loosen its grip and the world is eager to bounce back from isolation and fear, the new reality that awaits us is still pretty much the realm of imagination. We have invited some of the most important Romanian contemporary authors to share their take on how they think life would look like when the ordeal is over. The next guest in our long-running exercise in auctorial foresight is influential writer, editor, translator and cultural manager Bogdan Alexandru Stănescu, one of the most active players on Romanian cultural scene.
Bilingual reading. English version of the text by Romanian-American translator and author Andreea Scridon.
BOGDAN- ALEXANDRU STĂNESCU (b. 1979) has been the editor of the prestigious literary translation collection Biblioteca Polirom for 14 years. Nowadays he works as Editorial Director for PandoraM Publishing House. He is a book reviewer for major Romanian publications, the founder and president of the independent international literary festival in Bucharest, FILB, and author of six books: 2 collections of essays (What separates us, together with Moldavian writer Vasile Ernu, and Enter Ghost. Imaginary letters to Osip Mandelshtam), 2 poetry books (After the battle we stopped to catch our breath and anaBASis) and two novels (The Childhood of Kaspar Hauser and Caragiale. The lost letter). He also translates into Romanian works by Tennessee Williams, James Joyce, Sandra Newman, Alberto Manguel, Edward Hirsch, Sue Prideaux, William Faulkner, Paul Auster and Daniel Mendelsohn. Bogdan Stănescu won the Best Young Writer of the Year Award in 2015. He has a PhD in Romanian literature.
"Life Anew. Writers Imagine the World after the Pandemic" is a program of bilingual readings created together with the National Museum of the Romanian Literature in Bucharest. Next authors in the series: Diana Bădica, Merlich Saia, Mihok Tamas, Chris Tănăsescu, and Lucian-Dan Teodorovici.
Watch the previous episodes here:
Ep. 1 / Cosmin Perța
Ep. 2 / Florina Ilis
Ep. 3 / Răzvan Țupa
Ep. 4 / Tatiana Țîbuleac