In times of calamity and social distress, it was often the writers who were called to imagine how the world would heal its wounds and begin again. Inspired by the creative examples of the past, we have summoned an extraordinary ensemble of authors and translators and challenged them to picture by way of prose and poetry how life re-emerging from the black silence of the pandemic may look like. Our series, LIFE ANEW, created together with the National Museum of Romanian Literature, continues with one of Romania's best and most internationally acclaimed authors, ground-breaking novelist GABRIELA ADAMEȘTEANU, translated by distinguished poet and translator IOANA IERONIM.
A graduate of the Faculty of Letters at the University of Bucharest, GABRIELA ADAMEȘTEANU worked as an editor of encyclopedias (1965-1984) and fiction (1985-1990). She was a Fellow of the International Writing Program of the University of Iowa, USA (September-December 1990) and Editor-in-Chief of the influential cultural, political and social weekly 22 (1991-2005) and of its supplement, "Cultural Bucharest" (until 2013). Gabriela Adameșteanu was a member of the international team of journalists of "Women's Edition" Population Reference Bureau, Washington (1998-2001). In 2002, she was awarded by the Human Rights Watch, the Hellman-Hamett Award for Courage in Journalism. In October 2004, she was writer in residence at Leding House, The Art Omi International Arts Center, Ghent, USA. Stories and fragments of her novels appeared in American publications (Words Without Borders) and anthologies (Words without Borders - The World through the Eyes of Writers, 2007).
Gabriela Adameșteanu was the Vice-President (2000-2004) and President (2004-2006) of the Romanian PEN Center. For several years she was a member of the Jury for the Latin Union Award (2007-2010). In 2013, the French Ministry of Culture made her a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Her books, constantly republished and awarded, are translated into 16 languages, and very well received by literary critics. Her novel, Wasted Morning appeared in 2011 at Northwestern University Press, translated by Patrick Camiller, and Encounter was published by Dalkey University Press in 2018, translated by Alistair Jan Blyth. Other titles by Gabriela Adameșteanu include: The Even Course of Each Day, Temporariness, The Fountain of Trevi (novels); Give Yourself a Holiday, Summer-Spring (short prose); and The Romantic Years (memoire).