Romania, the Guest of Honor at the Paris Book Salon

Romanias presence as a guest of honor at the Paris Book Fair held between March 21st and 25th has been described as very successful.

Corina Sabău, 06.04.2013, 16:10

”I think it was a genuine success. Everything has been extremely lively. The events have been very diverse, and contrasting opinions have been voiced”, Jean-Francois Colosimo, the President of the Centre National du Livre, the National Book Center, said at the end of the event. Romanian prose writer Radu Aldulescu voiced hope that in the wake of Romania’s participation in the Book Fair, Romanian literature would be better known in the West. In turn, writer Marta Petreu shared the opinion that fostering Romanian literature in the world’s most widely spoken languages must continue in the future as well.

Over 50 authors took part in the events staged at the Paris Book Fair, representing all literary genres, from poetry and drama, to comics, essays and fiction. Enjoying a spectacular design and stretching along a surface area of 400 square meters, Romania’s pavilion had a bookshop and a debate area. The French retail chain FNAC, the official partner of the Book Fair, made more than 1,000 Romanian books available to the reading public, and more than 600 volumes by Romanian authors whose works have been translated into French. More than 60 events and debates were held, most of which hosted by Romania’s pavilion and the National Book Center’s stand.

However, Romania’s presence at the most important event on the French book market was somehow marred by the refusal of four leading writers to take part in the event, in token of protest against the new policies of the Romanian Cultural Institute’s board. These were Mircea Cartarescu, Andrei Plesu, Neagu Djuvara and Gabriel Liiceanu. Taking up on those writers’ decision, French Ambassador to Romania Phillippe Gustin said that the participation invitation was extended on behalf of France, and that “the absentees are always wrong”.

Speaking now is playwright Matei Visniec, who attended the Book Fair this year: “I believe we’ll see a lot of debate on this issue, I mean leading writers not taking part in the event, given that the Romanian Cultural Institute changed its board, changes some of its policies and operated massive budget cuts in the field of culture. The ideal case would be for the writers coming to the Book Fair to showcase an extremely diverse literary creativity, rather than start making politics. In the end, we are talking about a great cultural event”.

Andrei Oisteanu, whose volume, the “Image of the Jew in Romanian Culture” was published in French early this month, also referred to Romania being guest of honor: “We must say the idea of inviting a country as guest of honor is related neither to protocol nor is it a strategic move, as it’s not a decision made by the government or the ministry of culture. And neither is that a coincidence. The invitation has been made on behalf of the Union of Editors in France, an extremely strong trade union, which is aware when a literature in the wider sense of the word, a written culture, becomes active and when there is a new interesting wave coming out.”

Here are other impressions from the Paris Book Fair. Poet Ion Muresan: “Romania is a very inventive country so its pavilion can’t be but appealing to visitors, particularly thanks to a wider selection of works. I noticed everyone is curious to find out what volumes we have on display there. For the time being visitors are only Romanian nationals but we hope that foreigners will be soon visiting us as well.”

Here is poet and translator Dinu Flamand: “The first impression is of course visual. I recently came close to L’ecume des Pages, one of the most famous bookstores in France, and for the first time I saw two shelves filled with Romanian books, something I have never seen in the 26 years of my stay in Paris. A great deal of Romanian books has been finally translated into French. I remember the mixed feeling I had at the other editions of the fair, which had on view a good deal of books by Japanese or Portuguese writers; it was a mixed feeling of admiration and envy. I have never imagined that the day will soon come for Romania to be invited to the Paris Book Fair.”

According to Dinu Flamand, in terms of book sales the Romanian participation has exceeded even the expectations of the French organizers. The writer has also been impressed by the standing ovations rewarding the participants in round table discussions during the fair. Furthermore, cultural magazines in France have devoted numerous articles to writers from Romania.