Talk / Exhibition / Dedication
A fabulous event at the Institute on November 5, 2021 as we honored one of Romania’s most acclaimed and best known writers and public intellectuals, the unique Norman Manea. It was a privilege to host this emotional evening, infused with a palpable sense of love, filling the room that from now on will bear the name of the celebrated author. The event, co-organized with the Romanian Embassy to the United States, was opened by Ambassador Andrei Muraru with a heartfelt tribute and steered by the RCI New York Director, Dorian Branea. Special messages of gratitude came from Secretary of State Andrei Novac and Bard College President Leon Botstein, complemented by the authoritative overview of Norman Manea's literary achievements and civic engagements offered by Professor Claudiu Turcus of Babeș-Bolyai University, and by a touching evocation by Ambassador Ion Jinga, Permanent Representative of Romania at the United Nations. Warm reminiscences by friends and collaborators followed and could have gone forever. A big thank you to all those who joined us and contributed in making this celebration a truly extraordinary one!
PHOTO GALLERY:
More pictures here.
The evening's PROGRAM:
Introductory speeches by 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
Messages from Mr. Andrei Novac, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania, and the Bard College President, Leon Botstein
Overview of Norman Manea's biography and of his artistic and civic endeavors by Professor Claudiu Turcuș of the Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, author of Norman Manea. Aesthetics as East Ethics (Peter Lang, 2016)
Tributes by H.E. Dr. Ion Jinga, Permanent Representative of Romania at the United Nations, and some of the author's long time friends and collaborators
To mark his important contribution to strengthening the Romanian-American cultural relations, the main room of RCI New York was named "Norman Manea".
Also on this occasion, the photographic exhibition “Norman Manea – A Life in Pictures” was opened in the Institute's Brâncuși Gallery.
LIVE RECORDING:
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).