Mircea Cărtărescu (; born 1 June 1956) is a

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

short-story writer A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

, and

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

Biography

Born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

in 1956, he attended Cantemir Vodă National College during the early 1970s. During his school years, he was a member of literary groups led by

Nicolae Manolescu Nicolae Manolescu (; b. 27 November 1939, Râmnicu Vâlcea) is a Romanian literary critic. As an editor of '' România Literară'' literary magazine, he has reached a record in reviewing books for almost 30 years. Elected a corresponding member ...

and Ovid S. Crohmălniceanu. At that time, along with many teenagers of his generation, Cărtărescu was tremendously influenced by the legacy of the 1960s American counterculture, including artists such as

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

, and

The Doors The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...

. He commenced writing poetry in 1978. Later, he studied at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...

's Faculty of Letters, Department of Romanian Language and Literature. He graduated in 1980 with a thesis that later became his book on poetry, more specifically ''The Chimaeric Dream''. That same year, some of his works were published by

Cartea Românească Cartea Românească ("The Romanian Book") is a publishing house in Bucharest, Romania, founded in 1919. Disestablished by the Communist Romania, communist regime in 1948, it was restored under later communism, in 1970, when it functioned as the off ...

. Between 1980 and 1989, Cărtărescu worked as a

Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Moldova, Republic of Moldova. As a minority language it is spoken by stable communi ...

teacher, then worked at the

Writers' Union of Romania The Writers' Union of Romania (), founded in March 1949, is a professional association of writers in Romania. It also has a subsidiary in Chișinău, Republic of Moldova. The Writers' Union of Romania was created by the communist regime by taking ...

and as an editor at ''Caiete Critice'' magazine. In 1991, he became a lecturer at the Chair of Romanian Literary History, part of the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Letters. As of 2010, he was an associate professor there, where he still lectures to this date. Between 1994 and 1995, he was a visiting lecturer at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

and currently holds the same position at the

University of Stuttgart The University of Stuttgart (german: Universität Stuttgart) is a leading research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany wit ...

. In 2012, he received the

International Literature Award International Literature Award (''German'': Internationaler Literaturpreis – Haus der Kulturen der Welt) is a German literary award for international prose translated into German for the first time.University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...

within the Department of Literary Studies.

Work

His debut as a writer was in 1978 in ''

România Literară ''România Literară'' is a cultural and literary magazine from Romania. In its original edition, it was founded on 1 January 1855 by Vasile Alecsandri and published in Iași until 3 December 1855, when it was suppressed. The new series appeared on ...

'' magazine.

Poetry

*''Faruri, vitrine, fotografii...'', ("Headlights, shop windows, photographs...")

, 1980 – Writers Union Prize, 1980 *''Poeme de amor'' ("Love Poems"), Cartea Românească, 1982 *''Totul'' ("Everything"), Cartea Românească, 1984 *'' Levantul'' (''The Levant''), Cartea Românească, 1990 – Writers Union Prize, 1990, republished by

Humanitas ''Humanitas'' is a Latin noun meaning human nature, civilization, and kindness. It has uses in the Enlightenment, which are discussed below. Classical origins of term The Latin word ''humanitas'' corresponded to the Greek concepts of '' philanthr ...

in 1998 *''Dragostea'' ("Love"), Humanitas, 1994 *''50 de sonete de Mircea Cărtărescu cu cincizeci de desene de Tudor Jebeleanu'' ("50 Sonnets by Mircea Cărtărescu With Fifty Drawings by Tudor Jebeleanu"), Brumar 2003 *''Nimic, Poeme (1988-1992)'' ("Nothing, Poems, 1988-1992"), Humanitas, 2010 *''Nu striga niciodată ajutor'' ("Never Call For Help"), Humanitas, 2020

Prose

*''Desant '83'' (

, 1983) *''Visul'' (Cartea Românească, 1989). ''The Dream'' * ''Nostalgia'' (

, 1993; full edition of ''Visul''). Trans. Julian Semilian (New Directions, 2005; ), with introduction by Andrei Codrescu *''Travesti'' (Humanitas, 1994) *'' Orbitor'', vol. 1, ''Aripa stângă'' (Humanitas, 1996). ''Blinding, Book One: The Left Wing'', trans. Sean Cotter (Archipelago Books, 2013) *''Jurnal'' (Humanitas, 2001). 2nd ed.: ''Jurnal I, 1990–1996'' (Humanitas, 2005, ) *''Orbitor'', vol. 2, ''Corpul'' (Humanitas, 2002). ''Blinding, Book Two: The Body'' *'' Enciclopedia zmeilor'' (Humanitas, 2002). ''The Encyclopedia of Dragons'' *'' De ce iubim femeile'' (Humanitas, 2004). ''Why We Love Women'', trans. Alistair Ian Blyth (University of Plymouth Press, 2011; ) *''Jurnal II, 1997–2003'' (Humanitas, 2005). ''Diary II, 1997–2003'' *''Orbitor'', vol. 3, ''Aripa dreaptă'' (Humanitas, 2007). ''Blinding, Book Three: The Right Wing'' *'' Frumoasele străine'' (Humanitas, 2010). ''Beautiful Strangers'' *''Zen, Jurnal 2004-2010'' (Humanitas, 2011). ''Zen, Diary 2004-2010'' *''Solenoid'' (Humanitas, 2015). Trans. Sean Cotter (Deep Vellum, 2022) *''Un om care scrie, Jurnal 2011-2017'' (Humanitas, 2018). ''A Man Who Writes, Diary 2011-2017'' *''Melancolie'' (Humanitas, 2019). ''Melancholy'' *''Theodoros'' (Humanitas, 2022). ''Theodoros''

Essays

*''Visul chimeric (subteranele poeziei eminesciene)'' ("Chimerical Dream – The Underground of Eminescu's Poetry"), Litera, 1991 *''Postmodernismul românesc'' ("Romanian Postmodernism"), Ph.D. thesis, Humanitas, 1999 *''Pururi tânăr, înfășurat în pixeli'' ("Forever Young, Wrapped in Pixels"), Humanitas, 2003 *''Baroane!'' ("You Baron!"), Humanitas, 2005 *''Ochiul căprui al dragostei noastre'' ("Our Love's Hazel Eye"), Humanitas, 2012 *''Peisaj după isterie'' ("Landscape, After Histrionics"), Humanitas, 2017 *''Creionul de tâmplărie'' ("A Carpenter's Pencil"), Humanitas, 2020

Audiobooks

*''Parfumul aspru al ficțiunii'' ("The Rough Fragrance of Fiction"), Humanitas, 2003

Anthologies

* ''Testament – Anthology of Modern Romanian Verse'' (1850–2015) second edition – bilingual version English/Romanian. Daniel Ioniță – editor and principal translator, with Eva Foster,

Daniel Reynaud Daniel Reynaud (born 27 August 1958) is an Australian historian whose work on Australian war cinema and on Australian World War I soldiers and religion has challenged aspects of the Anzac legend, Australia’s most important national mythology ...

and Rochelle Bews. Minerva Publishing House. Bucharest 2015.

Awards and honours

* 1980: Romanian Writers' Union Prize * 1989:

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its byl ...

's Prize, for ''Visul'' * 1990: Romanian Writer's Unions Prize, ''Flacăra'' magazine Prize, ''Ateneu'' magazine Prize, ''Tomis'' magazine Prize, ''Cuvântul'' magazine Prize * 1992: ''Le Rêve'' nominee for:

Prix Médicis The Prix Médicis is a French literary award given each year in November. It was founded in 1958 by and . It is awarded to an author whose "fame does not yet match his talent." The award goes to a work of fiction in the French language. In 19 ...

, Prix Union Latine, Le meilleur livre étranger * 1994: Romanian Writer's Union Prize, ASPRO Prize, Moldavian Writers' Union Prize, for ''Travesti'' * 1996: ASPRO Prize, ''Flacăra'' magazine Prize, ''Ateneu'' magazine Prize, ''Tomis'' magazine Prize, ''Cuvântul'' magazine Prize * 1997: ''Flacăra'' magazine Prize, ''Ateneu'' magazine Prize, ''Tomis'' magazine Prize, ''Cuvântul'' magazine Prize * 1999: ''Orbitors French translation nominee for Prix Union Latine * 2000: Romanian Writers Association Prize * 2002: ASPRO Prize, AER Prize * 2006: Grand Officer of the ''Cultural Merit'' Order (Ordinul "Meritul cultural" în grad de mare ofițer), awarded by Romanian Presidency * 2011:

Vilenica Prize Vilenica International Literary Festival ( sl, Mednarodni literarni festival Vilenica) is a festival dedicated to literature that was founded in 1986 in Slovenia. It takes place annually in several locations on the Karst Plateau in the Slovene Lit ...

* 2012: International literatur prize "Haus der Kulturen der Welt 2012", Berlin * 2013: Spycher – Literary Prize Leuk, Switzerland * 2013: Grand Prix of the Novi Sad International Poetry Festival * 2014:

Best Translated Book Award The Best Translated Book Award is an American literary award that recognizes the previous year's best original translation into English, one book of poetry and one of fiction. It was inaugurated in 2008 and is conferred by Three Percent, the onlin ...

, shortlisted for ''Blinding'', translated from the Romanian into English by Sean Cotter * 2014: Premio Euskadi de Plata to the Best Book of 2014 for ''Las Bellas Extranjeras'' (Frumoasele străine), translated from the Romanian into Spanish by Marian Ochoa de Eribe (Editorial Impedimenta) * 2015:

Leipzig Book Award for European Understanding The City of Leipzig awards the Leipzig Book Award for European Understanding () which has been given since 1994. The award is endowed with prize money of 20,000 Euro and is presented every year during the official opening of Leipzig Book Fair. Rec ...

for ''Blinding'' * 2015:

Austrian State Prize for European Literature The Austrian State Prize for European Literature (german: Österreichischer Staatspreis für Europäische Literatur), also known in Austria as the European Literary Award (''Europäischer Literaturpreis''), is an Austria Austria, , bar, Ö ...

* 2016:

Premio Gregor von Rezzori The Premio Gregor von Rezzori (Gregor von Rezzori Award) is a literary prize awarded at the annual Festival degli Scrittori in Florence. The award was established in 2007 in honor of Gregor von Rezzori, a Mitteleuropean writer, author of novels and ...

for ''Blinding'' * 2018:

Thomas Mann Prize Thomas Mann Prize (''German'': Thomas-Mann-Preis) is a literary prize of Germany. In full the title is "Thomas Mann Prize of the city of Lübeck and the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts". It is given in alternate years in Lübeck and in Munich. The ...

* 2018:

Prix Formentor The Prix Formentor (also known as Premio Formentor de las Letras, Formentor Literature Prize and The Formentor Prize) is an international literary award given between 1961 and 1967, and, after a long break, from 2011. In the 1960s, the Formentor Gr ...

* 2022:

FIL Award The FIL Literary Award in Romance Languages (previously Juan Rulfo Prize for Latin American and Caribbean Literature), is awarded to writers of any genre of literature (poetry, novels, plays, short stories and literary essays), having as a means o ...

https://www.fil.com.mx/prensa/boletin.asp?ids=1&id=2773

References

External links

* Excerpt from ''The Roulette Player'' (original title: "Ruletistul"), story from ''Nostalgia'', by Mircea Cărtărescu, at WordsWithoutBorders.or

* Mircea Cărtărescu's page at

Humanitas publishing house Humanitas ( ro, Editura Humanitas) is an independent Romanian publishing house, founded on February 1, 1990 (after the Romanian Revolution) in Bucharest by the philosopher Gabriel Liiceanu, based on a state-owned publishing house, Editura Politi ...

br>
* Mircea Cărtărescu's page at

Zsolnay Zsolnay, or formally Zsolnay Porcelánmanufaktúra Zrt (Zsolnay Porcelain Manufactory Private Limited) is a Hungarian manufacturer of porcelain, tiles, and stoneware. The company introduced the eosin glazing process and pyrogranite ceramics. Hist ...

/Hanser Verlage publishing hous

* A review of ''Nostalgia'' by Joshua Cohen at New Haven Reviewbr>New Haven ReviewCartarescu meets his readers at the International Book Fair of Turin, Italy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cartarescu, Mircea 1956 births Living people University of Bucharest alumni International Writing Program alumni University of Bucharest faculty Romanian essayists 20th-century Romanian poets Romanian novelists Romanian male novelists Postmodern writers Male essayists 21st-century Romanian poets Romanian male poets 20th-century Romanian male writers 21st-century male writers Writers from Bucharest