Centre for Romanian Studies

Centre for Romanian Studies header image 1

Entries from October 22nd, 2009

Smaranda BRAESCU (1887–1948), Pioneer Pilot, World Parachute-jumping Champion, anti-Communist Fighter

October 22nd, 2009 · 2 Comments · PEOPLE, Poetry

Biographical Note:
Winner’s Glory:
” My life means nothing if I’m keeping it for myself. I dedicate my life to my country, and I want to live it in glory. I will only come back as a winner.”
(Smaranda Bràescu addressing American lournalists in 1931, in New York, before she beat the World record at parachute jumping, [...]

[Read more →]

Tags:··················

ROMANIA VAZUTA “ALTFEL”: ‘Blouse Roumaine – the Unsung Voices of Romanian Women’

October 22nd, 2009 · No Comments · Books, Diaspora, PEOPLE, Poetry, Reviews, Translations

ROMANIA VAZUTA “ALTFEL”:
‘Blouse Roumaine – the Unsung Voices of Romanian Women’
(O carte ilustrata, in limba Engleza, 1.100 pagini, 160 biografii, 600 citate, 4.000 referinte bibliografice.)
De ce si pentru ce “altfel’?
Din mai multe puncte de vedere:

In primul rand mesajul lucrarii NU este unul ‘oficial’, parafat de cei care ne dramuiesc adevarul. Autorul [...]

[Read more →]

Tags:····

The Best Times, This Side of the Atlantic…

October 20th, 2009 · No Comments · Books, International Media, PEOPLE, Reviews

FROM THE MARGINS TO THE CENTRE – A History of the ‘Irish Times’  –
(by Dermot James, The Woodfield Press, Dublin, 2008)
A Book Review

THE BEST TIMES, THIS SIDE OF THE ATLANTIC:
Why write a book review in 2009 for a title that was published in 2008?
Well, you may well ask – [...]

[Read more →]

Tags:·········

Herta Müller – the Journey to the 2009 Nobel Prize for Literature:

October 19th, 2009 · 5 Comments · Books, Diaspora, PEOPLE

THE VILLAGE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNETS NEST:
Herta Müller (born in 1953) is an unusual choice for a Nobel prize for several reasons, some of which create, of necessity, controversy and heated debates not just in Germany, her adoptive country, but in Romania too – her country of birth.
Müller is ‘unusual’ because she [...]

[Read more →]

Tags:····

Poetry in Translation III – Valeriu GAFENCU – Poet of the Romanian Prisons (1921-1952)

October 14th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Poetry, Translations

Trăiesc flămând
(Valeriu Gafencu – Sfantul Inchisorilor)
Trăiesc flămând, trăiesc o bucurie
Frumoasă ca un crin din Paradis.
Potirul florii e mereu deschis
Şi-i plin cu lacrimi şi cu apă vie;
Potirul florii e o-mpărăţie.
Când răii mă defaimă şi mă-njură
Şi-n clocot de mânie ura-şi varsă,
Potirul lacrimilor se revarsă
şi-mi primeneşte sufletul de zgură:
Atunci Iisus de mine mult se-ndură,
Refren: Nu plângeţi că mă [...]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Nobel prize Winner – Exorting Romania to be honest about its Communist Past

October 8th, 2009 · No Comments · Diaspora, PEOPLE

Herta MUELLER
2009 Nobel Prize for Literature
(Romanian-born German from the Banat of Timisoara, living in Berlin)
———————————————————————————————
Herta Müller has a sharp sense of realities, as demonstrated in her article published in Tagesspeil of 17 July 2008, which is echoed by the Frankfurter Rundschau:
“It is a scandal that Romania put forward as its representatives (in Germany, a.n.) two [...]

[Read more →]

Tags:···············