Distinguished writer Norman Manea, who left his native Romania in 1986 and lives now in New York and teaches European literature at Bard College, will discuss with writer and broadcaster Paul Bailey his life and work, his "exile before and after exile", as well as political and cultural issues of our time.
The event is organised in partnership with the Royal Society of Literature.
Norman Manea (b. 1936) is one of the most important contemporary Eastern European writers. His work, translated into more than 20 languages, received several high literary international prizes. His last volume The Return of the Hooligan (Farrar, Straus, Giroux, US, 2003 - Prix Medicis Etranger) considered by The NewYorker "an extraordinary book" is a portrait of an artist who embodies an exemplary biography of the European XX century, during Nazi, communist and postcommunist period up to our troubled global and post-modern time. Click here for the complete list of Norman Manea's books (pdf file).
Paul Bailey (b. 1937) is a renowned British writer and broadcaster. He was awarded the E. M. Forster Award in 1974 and in 1978 he won the George Orwell Prize. Paul Bailey's novels include At The Jerusalem (1967), which won a Somerset Maugham Award and an Arts Council Writers' Award; Peter Smart's Confessions (1977) and Gabriel's Lament (1986), both shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction; and Sugar Cane (1993). Kitty and Virgil (1998) is the story of the relationship between an English woman and an exiled Romanian poet.
When: Wednesday 30 March, 7pm
Where: Romanian Cultural Institute, 1 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PH.
This free event is open to the public, but you must reserve a seat in advance. Please contact Hazel Tsoi-Wiles at the Royal Society of Literature to book your seat: hazel@rslit.org or 0207 845 4677.
