European Literature Night is a cultural project supported by the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) and its 2012 edition took place in 24 cities in 20 countries. This event stands on three pillars: contemporary literature, read publicly by celebrities from different fields, in unusual locations, specially designated for this night. May 30, 2012, saw the first European Literature Night take place in Romania, an event organised by 10 cultural institutes, members of EUNIC in Romania cluster, and coordinated by the Romanian Cultural Institute.
The elegant mansion of the Löwendal Foundation hosted public readings, presentations, talks, performance shows and competitions. Among the illustrious names offered by the European Literature night: Julian Barnes read by writer, translator and journalist Radu Paraschivescu; Fernando Pessoa and the Spanish poet Antonio Gamoneda read by translator and poet Dinu Flămând; the Polish Sławomir Mrożek, Olga Tokarczuk, Andrzej Stasiuk and Ryszard Kapuściński read by journalists Matei Martin (Radio România Cultural, Dilema veche), Mihaela Dedeoglu (RFI România), Luca Niculescu (RFI România, Digi 24) and Ion Ioniță (Adevărul); poems by Wisława Szymborska, Nobel Prize of 1996, read by journalist and poet Emil Hurezeanu; fragments from the works of writer and politician Václav Havel performed by movie-maker Hanno Höfer; the prose of Roberto Bolaño in the voice of poet Ciprian Măceşaru; French writer Dominique Fernandez reading, accompanied by Marius Manole, fragments from his Rhapsodie Roumaine; Nedim Gürsel presenting excerpts from his novel The Daughters of Allah (accompanied by Iulia Badea-Gueritée); Romanian young authors Matei Florian, Adina Rosetti, Petre Barbu read by Filip Florian; Dan Lungu reading from Ovidiu Nimigean, Ciprian Măceşaru and Octavian Soviany; Irina-Margareta Nistor reading French-Belgian authors Amélie Nothomb and Marguerite Yourcenar. Among the other European writers tasted by the public: Orhan Pamuk, Salman Rushdie, Magda Szabó, Ian McEwan, José Saramago... The schedule and excerpts from the literature read at this event may be found at: www.facebook.com/NoapteaLiteraturiiEuropene
