Read All About It! Profusion News Issue No. 3 is out now!

Cultural news and events, some very handy tips, a diary of Romania-related cultural events in the UK, and an interview with prominent dissident writer Augustin Buzura, a true master of Romanian prose.

Profusion News is distributed, free of charge, via e-mail. Interested in reading it? Drop us an e-mail at ramonamitrica@gmail.com

PANEL DISCUSSION: New Romanian Books in English
4 pm, Monday 15 April 2013, Romanian Stand W205, Earls Court 2 (Warwick Road, London, UK, SW5 9TA)

Dr Mike Phillips OBE, author, journalist and curator, co-director of Profusion Publishers, will chair a discussion about new Romanian books in English. This event is part of the Romanian programme in the London Book Fair.

The participants in the panel are: Paul Bailey, Carmen Bugan, Susan Curtis-Kojakovic, Ramona Mitrică, Miranda Spicer, Cecilia Ştefănescu.

Enjoy the latest translations from Romanian, from Carmen Bugan’s Orwell Prize long-listed Burying the Typewriter and Cecilia Ştefănescu’s Sun Alley to the Romanian crime fiction series published by Profusion Publishers (www.profusion.org.uk), or the Romanian books offered by Plymouth University Press - introduced by the authors themselves with contributions from fellow writers and editors.

For the sixth time in a row, Romania is present in the prestigious London Book Fair. Under the title A Tribute to the Labours of Love, the Romanian stand will present a series of events will pay homage to the crucial contribution made by translators, editors, and authors, both in Britain, the United States and Romania, to the promotion of Romanian poetry, prose, and academic writing. More details about the programme on www.icr-london.co.uk/article/romania-at-the-london-book-fair-a-tribute-to-the-labours-of-love.html

Entrance to the London Book Fair is open to pass holders. Passes start at £30. For registration, visit  www.londonbookfair.co.uk/en/Register-Link/

Tuesday 30 April 2013: TALK

CRIME FICTION SERIES: ROMANIAN NOIR
18:30, Belgravia Books, 59 Ebury Street, London SW1W 0NZ (map here)

Tel. 020 7259 9336; E-mail: jimena@belgraviabooks.com
Free entry. Book early. Limited space availability.

“Belgravia Books is pleased to partner with Profusion Publishers (www.profusion.org.uk) for this event. Ramona Mitrica from Profusion and author Mike Phillips will guide you through a fascinating literary world you never thought existed. They are responsible of bringing to Britain a never-before-seen glimpse of Romania, with a series of Romanian noir with a difference: novels that certainly thrill, but also books which can show the audience the reality of a country which used to be behind the Iron Curtain but now emerges as a vibrant European partner after a bloody revolution and a long transition to a market-economy.”

Wine reception sponsored by www.albinuta.co.uk

Details: www.facebook.com/events/439513022792251/?ref=22
www.belgraviabooks.com

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TRAILER

MOTHER’S DAY in Romania is celebrated on International Women’s Day, on the 8th of March. As a festival, its roots go so deep in the Romanian psyche that the majority of people forget – or simply never knew – that this celebration was imported directly from Soviet Russia after 1947 (the year of the declaration of the Romanian Popular Republic). It became the communist regime’s flagship for women’s issues, and its propinquity to the traditional celebrations of 1st of March meant that its official status could be underlined by the existing popular tradition.

So the 8th of March became a day when small gifts and flowers could be lavished on women, especially mothers. Local authorities and businesses around the country compete to make women special offers, from free coffees to shopping discounts, and even official pardons for minor motoring offences. In spite of the Soviet overtones, Romanians took wholeheartedly to the 8th of March as Mother’s and Women’s Day, and any attempt to change the date would probably be futile.