Photo by Ema Cojocaru
In time of calamity and social distress, it was often the writers who were called to imagine how the world would heal its wounds and begin again. Inspired by the creative examples of the past, we have summoned an extraordinary ensemble of authors and translators and challenged them to picture by way of prose and poetry how life re-emerging from the black silence of the pandemic may look like. We continue our online series LIFE ANEW. WRITERS IMAGINE THE WORLD AFTER THE PANDEMIC, created together with the National Museum of the Romanian Literature, with writer and literary critic Andreea Răsuceanu, the passionate eulogist of Bucharest old and new, translated by consummate polyglot and author, Carrie Hooper.
ANDREEA RĂSUCEANU made her debut with prose in 1999, in theCuvântul/The Wordmagazine. She published short stories in various literary journals and in the following collective volumes:Bucureștiul meu / My Bucharest(Humanitas, 2016),Cărți, filme, muzici și alte distracții din comunism / Books, Movies, Music and Other Entertainments in Communism(Polirom, 2014),Bookătăria de texte și imagini 2 / The Book-kitchen of Texts and Images 2(Pandora-M, 2016),Ferestre din București și poveștile lor / Windows in Bucharest and Their Stories(Editura Peter Pan, 2015),Orașul. Antologie de proză / The City. An Anthology of Prose(Gestalt Books, 2016),Tot înainte! Amintiri din copilărie / Forward! Memories from Childhood(Curtea Veche, 2016),Cum să fii fericit în România / How to Be Happy in Romania(Humanitas, 2017),In the Mood for Love (Paralela 45, 2019). In 2018 she published her first novel,O formă de viață necunoscută / An Unknown Form of Life(Humanitas; nominated for the most important literary awards in Romania:Cultural ObservatoryPrizes, Radio Romania Cultural Awards Gala, The National Prose Award "Ziarul de Iași", Romanian Writers Union Prizes, "Sofia Nădejde" Prizes). In the same year Andreea Răsuceanu received the Writer of January award and was selected at the Festival of the First Novel in Chambéry (France). Fragments from the novel have been translated into English, French and Spanish. It was said thatO formă de viață necunoscutăis one of the most important, inventive, and well-written books published in recent literature. The author has also published three books of literary criticism and theory:Cele două Mântulese/The Two Mântuleasas(Vremea Publishing House, 2009, nominated for theLiterary Romania Awards and Prometheus Grand Prix),Bucureștiul lui Mircea Eliade. Elemente de geografie literară / Mircea Eliade’s Bucharest. Elements of Literary Geography (Humanitas Publishing House, 2013,Young Critic of 2013Prize at theYoung Writers Gala, nominated for the Romanian Writers Union and theCultural ObservatoryPrizes),Bucureștiul literar. Șase lecturi posibile ale orașului / The Literary Bucharest. Six possible readings of the city(Humanitas, 2016). She has coordinated the collection of contemporary Romanian literature at the Humanitas publishing house since 2017.