Ana Blandiana | |
|---|---|
 Blandiana in 2019 | |
| Native name | Otilia Valeria Coman |
| Born | (1942-03-25)25 March 1942 (age 83) Timișoara, Romania |
| Pen name | Ana Blandiana |
| Occupation | Poet, writer, memoirist, novelist, playwright, translator |
| Language | Romanian |
| Alma mater | Babeș-Bolyai University |
| Genres | Prose, poetry |
Ana Blandiana (Romanian pronunciation:[ˈanablandiˈana];pen name ofOtilia Valeria Coman; born 25 March 1942) is a Romanian poet, essayist, and political figure. She took her name afterBlandiana, nearVințu de Jos,Alba County, her mother's home village.
In October 2017, she was announced asThe Griffin Trust For Excellence In Poetry's twelfth recipient of their Lifetime Recognition Award.[1]
In October 2024, her literary work was recognised with thePrincess of Asturias Award.[2]
Ana Blandiana was born Otilia Valeria Coman on 25 March 1942.[3] Her parents were Gheorghe (1915-1964), an orthodox priest and former member of the fascistIron Guard[4] who spent years in Communist prisons and died in an accident weeks after his release in a general amnesty, and Otilia (Diacu), an accountant. Her sister Geta was born in 1947. In 1960 she married the writerRomulus Rusan.
After her debut in 1959, inTribuna,Cluj, where she signed for the first time asAna Blandiana, she was published in the anthology30 de poeți tineri ("30 Young Poets"). In 1963, after a four-year interdiction due to her father's status,[citation needed] she again published inContemporanul (edited byGeorge Ivașcu).
Her editorial debut took place in 1964 with the booklet of poemsPersoana întâia plural ("First Person Plural"), with aForeword written byNicolae Manolescu. She became known for herCalcâiul vulnerabil ("Achilles' Heel", 1966) andA treia taină ("The Third Secret", 1969). In 1966, Blandiana appeared for the first time at the International Poem Contest (inLahti, Finland).
In 1967, she settled inBucharest; until the following year, she was one of the editors forViața studențească, and then (until 1975) worked as editor forAmfiteatru. She gave two televised readings in 1969, in the company ofAndrei Șerban and the actors Irina Petrescu, Mariana Mihuț, andFlorian Pittiș.
Between 1975 and 1977, she was a librarian at the Institute of Fine Arts in Bucharest. In 1976, her works were first printed in a French translation, inCroisière du Club des Poètes byfr:Jean-Pierre Rosnay (Paris); in 1978, she took part in the First International Festival of Poetry in Paris organized by the famedClub des Poètes.
In the late 1980s, Blandiana started writing protest poems against thecommunist regime.[citation needed]
In 1984 Blandiana's poem 'Totul' ('Everything') was briefly published in the literary magazine Amfiteatru. 'Totul' was a list of elements of everyday life in Bucharest at the time, composed as a comment on the contrast between the official view of life in Romania and the alternative perception of its monotonous shabbiness. The critical nature of the poem led to the edition of Amfiteatru being withdrawn within hours of publication with the editors being dismissed.[citation needed] Nevertheless, the poem appeared in translation in Western media and also had limited underground circulation in Romania.[5]
In 1987 she published at the Sport-Turism Publishing House the book "Orașe de silabe" ("City of syllables") where she writes about all the countries and cities of the world where she travelled: over 100. The same year, 1987, she is published in USSR, at Raduga Publishing House from Moscow, with the Russian title "Стихотворения, рассказы, эссе" ("Poems, stories, essays"). Even though the secret services of Ceaușescu ('Securitate') attribute her a dissident status, in 1989 the Minerva Publishing House is publishing in the most popular mass collection "Biblioteca Pentru Toți" ("Library for all people") an anthology of her poems. Her friends sustain that the book never seen the bookshelves of the libraries. However, "Poezii" ("Poems") has a 'Foreword' written byEugen Simion.[6]
After theRomanian Revolution of 1989, she entered political life, campaigning for the removal of the communist legacy from administrative office, as well as for anopen society. She left literary work in the background, although she did publishArhitectura valurilor ("Waves' Architecture", 1990),100 de poeme ("100 Poems", 1991), andSertarul cu aplauze ("The Drawer of Applause", prose, 1992). In 1992 she advocates for the released from prison of old time Party member Gheorghe 'Gogu' Radulescu, a former member of the Executive Political Committee of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and protector of herself during the communist period.
Ana Blandiana has also published:50 de poeme, ("50 Poems"), 1970:Octombrie, Noiembrie, Decembrie ("October, November, December"), 1972;Întâmplări din grădina mea (Occurrences in My Garden), 1980;Ora de nisip ("The Hour of Sand"), 1984;Întâmplări de pe strada mea (Occurrences on My Street), 1988;În dimineața de după moarte ("On the Morning After Dying"), 1996;La cules îngeri ("Angel Gathering"), 1997;Cartea albă a lui Arpagic ("Arpagic's White Book"), 1998. She has also authored 6 books of essays and 4 books of other prose writings. Her work was translated into 16 languages.
Ora de nisip ("The Hour of Sand") has been translated into English by Peter Jay and Anca Cristofovici.[7]
