(C) Photos Alexandru Paul, Geraldine Le Guyader, Cosmin Bumbutz
Romanian poet and novelist Mircea Cartarescu together with award-winning actress Anamaria Marinca will take part in the European Literature Night together with emerging and established authors from Czech Republic, Italy, France, Hungary and Poland.
European Literature Night is one of many events, which take place simultaneously across European capitals on the 13th of May to celebrate European literature in a genuine trans-European event. In London, the writers will read their books and engage in a debate - more at www.eunic-london.org.
Mircea Cartarescu and Anamaria Marinca will read a story from the bestseller Why We Love Women (De ce iubim femeile). Why We Love Women is a set of twenty short stories about the eternal war between the two sexes. The protagonist of every one is female, but they are not individual portraits of women - it is a group portrait of womanhood. In Romania alone 150,000 copies were sold. It was also published in France and Spain, and is heading to Poland and Portugal soon.
The evening will be chaired by Rosie Goldsmith, journalist specializing in arts and international affairs who spent 20 years at the BBC.
Mircea Cartarescu has won all the important Romanian literary prizes and published over 25 books and a large number of articles. His works have been translated into 14 languages, bringing him international critical acclaim. In 1992 he was nominated for the Médicis prize in France and in 2005 he was honored with the Acerbi Award in Italy. At present he is an Associate Professor in the Romanian Literature Department of the University of Bucharest. In 2007 he had promoting tours in Sweden, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Poland. In 2008 he had readings at the Leipzig Book Fair, the Goteborg Book Fair and the Torino Book Fair. He was the juror for literature of Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, Germany. Mircea Cartarescu's CV.
Anamaria Marinca is an award-winning Romanian actress, who starred in the Palme d'Or winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days. Anamaria first gained public attention in 2005 when she was awarded 3 Best Actress Awards: the BAFTA Television Award, the Royal Television Society Award and the Golden Nymph at the 45th edition of the Monte Carlo Television Festival for her performance in the British mini-series Sex Traffic. She also worked with director Francis Ford Coppola on Youth without Youth (2007), and played roles in Radu Muntean's film Boogie (2009) and in Julie Delpy's latest feature The Countess (2009).
The event is organized in partnership with EUNIC London | working together for the promotion of European arts & culture | www.eunic-london.org The event marks the Czech Republic's Presidency of the Council of Europe | www.eu2009.cz Supported by The European Commission Representation in the UK | ec.europa.eu/unitedkingdom
Mircea Cartarescu and Anamaria Marinca's presence at the European Literature Night is supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute London.
When: 13 May 2009, 6.30 - 9.00 pm
Where: British Library Conference Centre, 96 Euston Road, London, NW1 2DB
Admission: £6 (£4 concessions). Tickets from www.bl.uk, box office: (0)1937 546546.
