Born in Utopia: An Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Romanian Poetry, edited by
Carmen Firan and Paul Doru Mugur with Edward Foster
Introduction by Andrei Codrescu
afterwords by Nicolae Manolescu and Virgil Nemoianu
ISBN: 1-58498-050-8, paper, $27.95
In the years following the collapse of the Wall, Romanian poets have assaulted the English language directly and indirectly with impressive vigor. Romanians, whether in the depths of the Transylvanian provinces or in the better parts of Manhattan, respond to the word “poetry” with a straightening of the shoulders, a chin-forward movement, and a far-away gaze. “We may not be sure of many things,” they say with that rearrangement of the body, “but we are sure of our poetry.” —from the introduction by Andrei Codrescu
Carmen Firan is the author of twenty books of poetry, fiction, and essays as well as several plays and film scripts. She has also translated the works of numerous American writers into Romanian. Since 2000, she has lived in New York, where she
formerly directed programs at the Romanian Cultural Center. • Paul Doru Mugur is a translator and editor and the author of numerous works of poetry and fiction as well as essays and literary and art criticism. He currently lives in New York where he works as a physician. • Edward Foster is a well known poet, critic, and literary historian. • Firan and Mugur are the editors of Naming the Nameless (Bucharest, 2006), an anthology of American poetry in Romanian translation, for which Foster provided the introduction and critical notes and, with the poet Leonard Schwartz, chose the selections to be translated.
afterwords by Nicolae Manolescu and Virgil Nemoianu
ISBN: 1-58498-050-8, paper, $27.95
In the years following the collapse of the Wall, Romanian poets have assaulted the English language directly and indirectly with impressive vigor. Romanians, whether in the depths of the Transylvanian provinces or in the better parts of Manhattan, respond to the word “poetry” with a straightening of the shoulders, a chin-forward movement, and a far-away gaze. “We may not be sure of many things,” they say with that rearrangement of the body, “but we are sure of our poetry.” —from the introduction by Andrei Codrescu
Carmen Firan is the author of twenty books of poetry, fiction, and essays as well as several plays and film scripts. She has also translated the works of numerous American writers into Romanian. Since 2000, she has lived in New York, where she
formerly directed programs at the Romanian Cultural Center. • Paul Doru Mugur is a translator and editor and the author of numerous works of poetry and fiction as well as essays and literary and art criticism. He currently lives in New York where he works as a physician. • Edward Foster is a well known poet, critic, and literary historian. • Firan and Mugur are the editors of Naming the Nameless (Bucharest, 2006), an anthology of American poetry in Romanian translation, for which Foster provided the introduction and critical notes and, with the poet Leonard Schwartz, chose the selections to be translated.