Florina Ilis / Life Anew. Writers Imagine the World after the Pandemic II

While the pandemic seems to loose its grip and the world bounces 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 – and here is how celebrated author and academic Florina Ilis discerns, in a story entitled "The Playground", the features of what is to come. The text is translated into English by Phoenixian Andrew K. Davidson, academic, translator and poet who now calls Bucharest his home.

Watch on our Facebook, YouTube, IGTV and Website on Tuesday, May 25, 2 p.m. EST or any time later.

"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, Bogdan-Alexandru Stănescu, Mihok Tamas, Chris Tănăsescu, Lucian-Dan Teodorovici, Tatiana Țîbuleac, and Răzvan Țupa.

Florina Ilis is a writer and a professor at the Faculty of Letters of The Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca. She published poetry, theater, essays, short stories, and novels: Haiku și caligarme (Haiku and Calligrams) in 2000, Coborârea de pe cruce (The Descent from the Cross) in 2001, Chemarea lui Matei (The Calling of Matthew) in 2002, Cruciada copiilor (The Children’s Crusade) in 2005, Cinci nori colorați pe cerul de răsărit (Five Colorful Clouds on the Sunrise Sky) and  Lecția de aritmetică (The Math Lesson) in 2006, Viețile paralele (The Parallel Lives) in 2012, Cartea numerilor (The Book of Numbers) in 2018, and Pandemia veselă și tristă (The Sad and Joyful Pandemic) in 2020.

The book that gained Ilis most fame is Cruciada copiilor (The Children’s Crusade), published by Cartea Românească in 2005. The novel was deemed to be the most important Romanian literary work published in 2005, obtaining numerous prestigious awards and positive reviews in the literary press. It has been translated in French, Italian, Spanish, Hungarian, Serbian, and Hebrew. Viețile paralele (The Parallel Lives) has been translated into French and Cinci nori colorați pe cerul de răsărit (Five Colorful Clouds on the Sunrise Sky) has appeared in Italian. The French edition of Cartea numerilor (The Book of Numbers) has been recently published. Florina Ilis is the recipient of the Courrier International Prize for the Best Foreign Book (Paris, 2010).