Șerban Nicolae Foarță (; born 8 July 1942, in

Turnu Severin Drobeta-Turnu Severin (), colloquially Severin, is a city in Mehedinți County, Oltenia, Romania, on the northern bank of the Danube, close to the Iron Gates. It is one of six Romanian county seats lying on the river Danube. "Drobeta" is the name ...

) is a contemporary Romanian writer. A translator, essayist, playwright, prose writer and even illustrator, he is most widely known for his poetry books.

Style

Described by the critic

Nicolae Manolescu Nicolae Manolescu (; 27 November 1939 – 23 March 2024) was a Romanian literary critic. Elected a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy in 1997, he was upgraded to titular member in 2013. Life and career Manolescu was born in Râmnicu ...

as "the only major mannerist of our literature", Foarță is far from imitating the imagery of Baroque/mannerist poetry, drawing cues from many other influences and often using citations, pastiches, allusions, cultural references, puns. He has also practiced extensively

constrained writing Constrained writing is a literary technique in which the writer is bound by some condition that forbids certain things or imposes a pattern. Constraints are very common in poetry, which often requires the writer to use a particular verse form. D ...

techniques, having been often compared with the French writers of

Oulipo Oulipo (, short for ; roughly translated as "workshop of potential literature", stylized ''OuLiPo'') is a loose gathering of (mainly) French-speaking writers and mathematicians who seek to create works using constrained writing techniques. It wa ...

(including

Georges Perec Georges Perec (; 7 March 1936 – 3 March 1982) was a French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist, and essayist. He was a member of the Oulipo group. His father died as a soldier early in the Second World War and his mother was killed in the Ho ...

, who was translated by Foarță himself).

Works

* ''Texte pentru Phoenix'' (''Texts for Phoenix''), Litera Publishing House,

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, 1976 (collaboration with Andrei Ujică; reissued and reviewed in 1994) * ''Simpleroze'' (''Simpleroses''), Facla Publishing House,

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

, 1978 * ''Șalul, eșarpele Isadorei/Șalul e șarpele Isadorei'' (''The Shawl, Isadora's Scarf/The Shawl Is Isadora's Snake''), Litera Publishing House,

, 1978 (reissued and reviewed in 1999) * ''Copyright'', Litera Publishing House,

, 1979 * ''Eseu asupra poeziei lui Ion Barbu'' (''Essay on Ion Barbu's Poetry''), Facla Publishing House,

, 1980 * ''Afinități selective'' (''Selective Affinities''), Cartea Românească,

București Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater metropolitan area of 2. ...

, 1980 (essays) * ''Ivan Turbincă'', 1982-1983 (play after Ion Creangă) * ''Areal'', Cartea Românească,

, 1983 * ''Cucul și Pasărea din ceas'' (''The Cuckoo and the Bird from the Clock''), 1987-1988 (play) * ''Holorime'' (''Holorhymes''), Litera Publishing House,

, 1986 * ''Afinități effective'' (''Effective Affinities''), Cartea Românească,

, 1990 * ''Dublul regim (diurn/nocturn) al presei'' (''Double Regime (Diurnal/Nocturnal) of the Press''), Amarcord Publishing House,

, 1997 (essay) * ''Prolegomene la o Retorică publicitară'' (''Prolegomena at a Advertising Rhetoric''), West University Typography,

, 1998 (university reading) * ''Caragialeta'' (''Caragialette''), Brumar Publishing House,

, 1998 (reissued and reviewed in 2002) * ''Un castel în Spania pentru Annia'' (''A Castle in Spain for Anne''), Brumar Publishing House,

, 1999 (reissued and reviewed in 2006) * ''Erau ziare, evenimente'' (''There Were Newspapers, Events''), Brumar Publishing House,

, 2000 * ''Opera somnia'', Polirom Publishing House, Iaşi, 2000 (anthology prefaced by Mircea Mihăieș) * ''Spectacol cu Dimov'' (''Show with Dimov''), Vinea Publishing House,

, 2002 * ''Caragialeta bis'' (''Caragialette bis''), Brumar Publishing House,

, 2002 * ''Poezii (carte la borcan)'' (''Poems. Jarbook''), Humanitas Publishing House,

, 2003 * ''Clepsidra cu zăpadă'' (''Snow Clepsydra''), Polirom Publishing House, Iaşi, 2003 (conceptual anthology of universal poetry selected and translated by Șerban Foarță) * ''Fractalia'', Brumar Publishing House,

, 2004 * ''Ethernul Pheminin'' (''Ethernal Pheminine''), Cartier Publishing House, Chişinău, 2004 * ''Honorificabilitudinitatibus'', Brumar Publishing House,

, 2004 (essays) * ''Rebis'', Humanitas Publishing House,

, 2005 * ''Rimelări'' (''Doses of Mascara''), Cartea Românească,

, 2005 * ''Povestea soldatului'' (''The Story of the Soldier''), 2006–2007 (play after Igor Strawinsky) * ''Prozarium'', Vinea Publishing House,

, 2006 (prose) * ''Jeu de paume'', LiterNet Publishing House, 2006 (collaboration with Alex. Leo Şerban) (e-book) * ''Cliquet'', LiterNet Publishing House, 2006 (e-book) * ''Douăzeci și opt de Psalmi în transpunerea lui Ș. F. (cu, fiecare-n parte, câte-o imagine de François Pamfil)'' (''28 Psalms Redone By Ș.F. (each with an image by François Pamfil)''), Eis Art Publishing House, Iaşi, 2007 (bibliophile edition) * ''Istoriile unui matroz întors de pe Planeta Roz'' (''The Tellings of a Sailor Who Came Back from the Pink Planet''), Brumar Publishing House,

, 2007 * ''Cartea psalmilor'' (''Psalm Book''), Brumar Publishing House,

, 2007 * ''Un mire fără căpătâi'' (''Endless Bridegroom''), Polirom Publishing House, Iaşi, 2007 (collaboration with caricaturist ''Ion Barbu'' - not to be confused with modernist poet Ion Barbu) * ''Mr. Clippit & comp.'', LUDEX Collection, Curtea Veche Publishing House, 2007 * ''Cucul din ceas și pasărea albastră'' (''The Cuckoo from the Clock and the Blue Bird''), LUDEX Collection, Curtea Veche Publishing House, 2007 (play) * ''O brumă de paiete și confetti'' (''Spangle and Confetti Dust''), 2007 (collaboration with Emil Brumaru) * ''Isprăvile lui Degețel și ale altora ca el'' (''The Deeds of Small Finger and Others Like Him''), Paralela 45 Publishing House, Piteşti, 2007 * ''Mic tratat de pisicologie'' (''Short Treatise on Catology''), Humanitas Publishing House,

, 2008 * ''Roșul ușor e rozul iluzor'' (''Easy Red Is Illusionary Pink''), Humanitas Publishing House,

, 2008 * ''Micul Print'' (''The Small Print/Prince''), ART Publishing House, 2008 * ''Ecclesiastul/Cântarea Cântărilor'' (''The Ecclesiastic. The Song of Songs''), ART Publishing House, 2008 * ''Cozerii în lila'', Eis Art Publishing House, Iaşi, 2008 (dialogs with ''Iolanda Malamen'') * ''Cartea lui Iov'' (''Iov's Book''), Brumar Publishing House,

, 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foarta, Serban People from Drobeta-Turnu Severin 20th-century Romanian poets Romanian male poets 1942 births Living people 21st-century Romanian poets 20th-century Romanian male writers 21st-century Romanian male writers