World Book Day: Gabi Reigh and Sean Cotter on Romanian Classics in English

While foreign translations still make a fraction of the titles published in the US and the UK, the library of Romanian books in English is growing nonetheless and recently has been enriched with two perennial classics, Ciuleandra by Liviu Rebreanu (Cadmus Press) and Rakes of the Old Court by Mateiu Caragiale (Northwestern University Press). On World Book Day, we celebrate their arrival in the company of translators Gabi Reigh and Sean Cotter with a conversation about the relevance of these major books for their American and British readers as well as the meaning of this true editorial coup for the overall circulation of Romanian literature in the English-speaking world.

Watch on our Facebook this Saturday, April 23 at 2 p.m. EST!

Gabi Reigh moved to the UK from Romania at the age of 12 and teaches English at a college in Hampshire. In 2017, she won the Stephen Spender Prize for her translation of Marin Sorescu's poem "Călătorul", which inspired her to translate more Romanian literature. As part of her Interbellum Series project, she has translated interwar novels, poetry and drama by Lucian Blaga, Mihail Sebastian, and Liviu Rebreanu. Her translation of "The Town with Acacia Trees" by Mihail Sebastian was the first work translated from Romanian to receive a PEN Translates award. Her latest translation is "Ciuleandra" by Liviu Rebreanu.

Sean Cotter is Professor of Literature and Literary Translation at The University of Texas at Dallas. He has translated numerous important works of Romanian literature, including Nichita Stănescu, "Wheel with a Single Spoke and Other Poems", for which he received the Three Percent Best Translated Book Award, and more recently, Mateiu Caragiale, "Rakes of the Old Court", and Magda Cârneci, "FEM", a finalist for the 2022 PEN Translation Prize. He is the author of the volume "Literary Translation and the Idea of ​​a Minor Romania", which was awarded the prize of the Society of Romanian Studies. Professor Cotter holds a degree in English Literature from Loyola University, New Orleans, a master's degree in Humanities from The University of Texas at Dallas, and a doctorate in Comparative Literature from the University of Michigan. Among others, he has also translated from Mircea Cărtărescu, Liliana Ursu, and Nichita Danilov.