Norman Manea: An Homage

As an homage to Norman Manea, one of the best-known Romanian, and Romanian-American, writers, we are honored to organize, together with the Romanian Embassy in the U.S., a special event in celebration of the acclaimed author and public intellectual’s outstanding literary achievements and his restless pursuit of truth and memory.

H.E. Mr. Andrei Muraru, the Ambassador of Romania to the U.S., and Mr. Dorian Branea, the Director of the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, will offer introductory remarks. Professor Claudiu Turcuș of the Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, author of Norman Manea. Aesthetics as East Ethics (Peter Lang, 2016), will revisit the distinguished writer's uncommon biography and his artistic as well as civic endeavors.

To mark his important contribution to strengthening the Romanian-American cultural relations, the main room of the Romanian Cultural Institute will be named “Norman Manea” in honor of the celebrated writer, who will also take the floor as the evening’s highlight.

Also on this occasion, the photographic exhibition “Norman Manea – A Life in Pictures” will open in the Brâncuși Gallery of RCI New York.

The event will be followed by a reception.

Where & when: Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, November 5, doors open at 6:30 pm. Free entrance. RSVP here. Please see details about the Covid-safety protocols here. 

NORMAN MANEA is a Holocaust survivor and one of the most celebrated Romanian, and Romanian-American, authors of the past decades. He is Francis Flournoy Professor Emeritus in European Studies and Culture and Distinguished Writer in Residence at Bard College, New York and author of a long series of novels, volumes of short fiction, and essays. Originally written in Romanian and published in 30 languages, the following titles are also available in English: October Eight O’Clock (short fiction, 1992), On Clowns: The Dictator and the Artist (essays, 1992), Compulsory Happiness (novellas, 1993), The Black Envelope (novel, 1995), The Lair (novel, 2012), The Fifth Impossibility (essays, 2012), The Hooligan’s Return (novel, 2003; 2nd edition, 2013), Settling My Accounts Before I Go Away. An Interview with Saul Bellow (2013), Paradise Found: An Interview with Hannes Stein (2013), Captives (2015).

Norman Manea was granted, among others, The Guggenheim Fellowship (1992), The McArthur Fellowship (1993), The National Jewish Book Award (1993), The New York Public Library Literary Lion Medal (1993), The Nonino International Prize for “Opera Omnia” (2002), Napoli Prize for Fiction (2004), Prix Médicis Étranger (2006), Nelly Sachs Prize (2011), The National Prize for Literature awarded by the Romanian Writers’ Union (2012), the FIL Grand Prize for Literature in Romance Languages (2016), and the Alianța Arts and Letters Award (2018). He is a member of Berlin Academy of Art (Germany, 2006), a honorary member of The Royal Society of Literature (United Kingdom, 2011), and was awarded the title Commandeur dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France, 2009), the Romanian “Cultural Merit” Order in the rank of Commander (2006), and the National Order “Star of Romania” in the rank of Grand Officer (2016).

Photo credit: Richard Avedon

Important event info

Please be advised that all guests will need to be fully vaccinated to enter the premises, meaning that the event must take place at least 14 days after your final vaccine dose. Guests will have to provide proof of full vaccination along with an appropriate ID matching the name on their documentation. You can display proof of vaccination on your smartphone, present a physical copy or use the New York State Excelsior Pass. For more information, please visit the NYC Health official website here.