Mircea Cărtărescu

Biography

Born in Bucharest in 1956, he attended Cantemir Vodă National College during the early 1970s. During his school years, he was a member of literary groups led by Nicolae Manolescu and Ovid S. Crohmălniceanu. At that time, along with many teenagers of his generation, Cărtărescu was tremendously influenced by the legacy of the 1960s American counterculture, including artists such as Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and The Doors. He commenced writing poetry in 1978.

Later, he studied at the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Letters, Department of Romanian Language and Literature. He graduated in 1980 with a thesis that later became his book on poetry, more specifically The Chimaeric Dream. That same year, some of his works were published by Cartea Românească.

Between 1980 and 1989, Cărtărescu worked as a Romanian language teacher, then worked at the Writers' Union of Romania and as an editor at Caiete Critice magazine. In 1991, he became a lecturer at the Chair of Romanian Literary History, part of the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Letters. As of 2010, he was an associate professor there, where he still lectures to this date. Between 1994 and 1995, he was a visiting lecturer at the University of Amsterdam and currently holds the same position at the University of Stuttgart. In 2012, he received the International Literature Award for his novel The Body.

Cărtărescu is married to the Romanian poet , with whom he has a son. He is a full professor at the University of Bucharest within the Department of Literary Studies.

Work

His debut as a writer was in 1978 with poetry published in România Literară magazine. Two years later, he published his first book, Faruri, vitrine, fotografii, which earned him the Romanian Writers' Union award for debut. The post-modern epic poem The Levant appeared in 1990, written at a time of heavy censorship by the communist regime, without much hope of being translated, and published after the fall of communism, it is a parody that encompasses writing styles touching on several other Romanian writers, most notably Mihai Eminescu, from whose poem, "Scrisoarea III", he borrowed the metrical pattern and even some lines.

In 2010, Blinding was voted novel of the decade by Romanian literary critics.

His works have been translated into most European languages (including Spanish, French and English) and published in Europe, Hispanic America, and the United States.

Cărtărescu has been rumoured to have been nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature multiple times, and has been considered one of the favorites to win the award. In 2023, when Swedish journalist Carsten Palmer Schale had included him on a short list of favourites for the award, Cărtărescu himself said that he is thankful for being included in such a list, and that he doesn't wish for anything more.

Poetry

• Faruri, vitrine, fotografii..., ("Headlights, shop windows, photographs...") Cartea Românească, 1980 – Writers Union Prize for debut, 1980
• Poeme de amor ("Love Poems"), Cartea Românească, 1982
• Totul ("Everything"), Cartea Românească, 1984
• Levantul (The Levant), Cartea Românească, 1990 – Writers Union Prize, 1990, republished by Humanitas in 1998
• Dragostea ("Love"), Humanitas, 1994
• 50 de sonete de Mircea Cărtărescu cu cincizeci de desene de Tudor Jebeleanu ("50 Sonnets by Mircea Cărtărescu With Fifty Drawings by Tudor Jebeleanu"), Brumar 2003
• Nimic, Poeme (1988–1992) ("Nothing, Poems, 1988-1992"), Humanitas, 2010
• Nu striga niciodată ajutor ("Never Call For Help"), Humanitas, 2020

Prose

• Desant '83 (Cartea Românească, 1983)
• Visul (Cartea Românească, 1989). The Dream
• Nostalgia (Humanitas, 1993; full edition of Visul). Trans. Julian Semilian (New Directions, 2005; ), with introduction by Andrei Codrescu
• Travesti (Humanitas, 1994)
• Orbitor, vol. 1, Aripa stângă (Humanitas, 1996). Blinding, Book One: The Left Wing, trans. Sean Cotter (Archipelago Books, 2013)
• Jurnal (Humanitas, 2001). 2nd ed.: Jurnal I, 1990–1996 (Humanitas, 2005, )
• Orbitor, vol. 2, Corpul (Humanitas, 2002). Blinding, Book Two: The Body
• Enciclopedia zmeilor (Humanitas, 2002). The Encyclopedia of Dragons
• De ce iubim femeile (Humanitas, 2004). Why We Love Women, trans. Alistair Ian Blyth (University of Plymouth Press, 2011; )
• Jurnal II, 1997–2003 (Humanitas, 2005). Diary II, 1997–2003
• Orbitor, vol. 3, Aripa dreaptă (Humanitas, 2007). Blinding, Book Three: The Right Wing
• Frumoasele străine (Humanitas, 2010). Beautiful Strangers
• Zen, Jurnal 2004-2010 (Humanitas, 2011). Zen, Diary 2004-2010
• Solenoid (Humanitas, 2015). Trans. Sean Cotter (Deep Vellum, 2022)
• Un om care scrie, Jurnal 2011-2017 (Humanitas, 2018). A Man Who Writes, Diary 2011-2017
• Melancolia (Humanitas, 2019). Melancholy
• Theodoros (Humanitas, 2022). Theodoros

Essays

• Visul chimeric (subteranele poeziei eminesciene) ("Chimerical Dream – The Underground of Eminescu's Poetry"), Litera, 1991
• Postmodernismul românesc ("Romanian Postmodernism"), Ph.D. thesis, Humanitas, 1999
• Pururi tânăr, înfășurat în pixeli ("Forever Young, Wrapped in Pixels"), Humanitas, 2003
• Baroane! ("You Baron!"), Humanitas, 2005
• Ochiul căprui al dragostei noastre ("Our Love's Hazel Eye"), Humanitas, 2012
• Peisaj după isterie ("Landscape, After Histrionics"), Humanitas, 2017
• Creionul de tâmplărie ("A Carpenter's Pencil"), Humanitas, 2020

Audiobooks

• Parfumul aspru al ficțiunii ("The Rough Fragrance of Fiction"), Humanitas, 2003

Anthologies

• Testament – Anthology of Modern Romanian Verse (1850–2015) second edition – bilingual version English/Romanian. Daniel Ioniță – editor and principal translator, with Eva Foster, Daniel Reynaud and Rochelle Bews. Minerva Publishing House. Bucharest 2015.

Awards and honours

• 1980: Romanian Writers' Union Prize
• 1989: Romanian Academy's Prize, for Visul
• 1990: Romanian Writer's Unions Prize, Flacăra magazine Prize, Ateneu magazine Prize, Tomis magazine Prize, Cuvântul magazine Prize
• 1992: Le Rêve nominee for: Prix Médicis, Prix Union Latine, Le meilleur livre étranger
• 1994: Romanian Writer's Union Prize, ASPRO Prize, Moldavian Writers' Union Prize, for Travesti
• 1996: ASPRO Prize, Flacăra magazine Prize, Ateneu magazine Prize, Tomis magazine Prize, Cuvântul magazine Prize
• 1997: Flacăra magazine Prize, Ateneu magazine Prize, Tomis magazine Prize, Cuvântul magazine Prize
• 1999: ''Orbitor'''s French translation nominee for Prix Union Latine
• 2000: Romanian Writers Association Prize
• 2002: ASPRO Prize, AER Prize
• 2006: Grand Officer of the Cultural Merit Order (Ordinul "Meritul cultural" în grad de mare ofițer), awarded by Romanian Presidency
• 2011: Vilenica Prize
• 2012: International literatur prize "Haus der Kulturen der Welt 2012", Berlin
• 2013: Spycher – Literary Prize Leuk, Switzerland
• 2013: Grand Prix of the Novi Sad International Poetry Festival
• 2014: Best Translated Book Award, shortlisted for Blinding, translated from the Romanian into English by Sean Cotter
• 2014: Premio Euskadi de Plata to the Best Book of 2014 for Las Bellas Extranjeras (Frumoasele străine), translated from the Romanian into Spanish by Marian Ochoa de Eribe (Editorial Impedimenta)
• 2015: Leipzig Book Award for European Understanding for Blinding
• 2015: Austrian State Prize for European Literature
• 2016: Premio Gregor von Rezzori for Blinding
• 2018: Thomas Mann Prize
• 2018: Prix Formentor
• 2022: FIL Award
• 2023: Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Solenoid
• 2024: Dublin Literary Award for Solenoid
• 2025: longlisted for the International Booker Prize for Solenoid, translated by Sean Cotter

Notes

References

References

1. "Mircea Cartarescu".
2. Leşcu, Christine. (26 August 2017). "Poet Claudiu Komartin". [[Radio Romania International]].
3. (2023-04-05). "Mircea Cărtărescu in conversation with Ileana Marin (American Romanian Clultural Society)". Romanian Cultural Institute in New York.
4. "Catedra de Literatura Romana - Universitatea din Bucuresti".
5. (July 2009). "Femeia de lângă Mircea Cărtărescu".
6. "În România sunt 50 de mii de cititori. Cum s-a tratat cu ajutorul poeziei de depresia post-COVID".
7. "Scriitorul Mircea Cărtărescu împlinește 65 de ani".
8. Ungureanu, Delia. (2021-09-08). "The Revolutionary Force of the Periphery: "The Levant," "Nostalgia," and World Literature". Dibur Literary Journal.
9. (2010-03-16). "Romanul deceniului: "Orbitor"".
10. "Cel de-al treilea volum al trilogiei Orbitor de Mircea Cartarescu, tradus in Olanda".
11. (2021-10-05). "Los favoritos al Nobel de Literatura: Cartarescu, Murakami, Ulitskaya... y Javier Marías".
12. (4 October 2023). "Un jurnalist suedez care a prezis corect laureații Nobel pentru literatură în ultimii doi ani crede ca anul acesta cele mai mari șanse le are Mircea Cărtărescu".
13. "Cărtărescu, "foarte fericit" că a ajuns și în acest an pe lista pentru Nobel: Nu-mi trebuie mai mult".
14. "Mircea Cărtărescu premiat la Berlin".
15. (2 July 2013). "Mircea Cărtărescu a câștigat Spycher – Literaturpreis Leuk în Elveția". Gândul.
16. "Premiu elveţian pentru Mircea Cărtărescu".
17. Chad W. Post. (14 April 2014). "2014 Best Translated Book Awards: Fiction Finalists". Three Percent.
18. (www.dw.com), Deutsche Welle. "Cartarescu wins Leipzig Book Award for 'universal' novel {{!}} Books {{!}} DW.COM {{!}} 11 March 2015".
19. (28 July 2015). "Mircea Cartarescu won the Austrian State Prize for European Literature {{!}} Nine O'Clock".
20. "2016 Winner".
21. (13 February 2018). "Mircea Cărtărescu a primit premiul "Thomas Mann" pentru Literatură. Reacția scriitorului".
22. (10 April 2018). "Romanian writer Mircea Cărtărescu receives Formentor de las Letras prize". Romania Insider.
23. "Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara".
24. (22 April 2023). "Los Angeles Times Book Prizes winners announced". LA Times.
25. "Solenoid".
26. (25 February 2025). "Short Novels Dominate International Booker Prize Nominees". The New York Times.