Poet in the City and the Romanian Cultural Institute are proud to announce the thrilling series of six events focusing on contemporary Romanian poetry. The events will present in the span of more than half a year, six of the most talented Romanian poets: Denisa Comanescu (14 April), Claudiu Komartin (12 May), Bogdan Ghiu (23 June), Miruna Vlada (22 September), Andrei Bodiu (20 Octomber) and Vasile Garnet (17 November).

The Contemporary Romanian Poets Series will be hosted by Amanda Hopkinson, a Senior Fellow at the University of East Anglia and Visiting Professor of Literary Translation at Manchester University and at City University, London.

Celebrated poet Denisa Comanescu will open the series on Thursday 14 April.

Denisa Comanescu, a poet, translator and editor (b. 1954), is author of five volumes of poetry, including Banishment from Paradise, which won Romanian Writers' Union Debut Prize in 1979, and Now My Old Time Biography (2000), released as an audio CD read by her in 2008. Reflecting the evocative landscapes and ghosts of people and relationships, Denisa's poetry has been included in anthologies in more than fifteen countries, and two of her collections have been translated into Swedish and Spanish respectively.

The Taming of the Poem by Denisa Comanescu

Each time my sheet of paper remains blank
I sit in front of it and wait
come on, I tell myself, now's the time
now you'll finally hit the jackpot
how many combinations, what explosions of connotations
but this isn't the right time, I tell myself
no bird has yet sung for you
your muscles aren't trained
for this new equilibrium
you've got a mouse in your kitchen
you bait the trap
every day you must position the cheese
and every day the crafty mouse steals it
without losing its head under the guillotine
you've got to adjust to the mouse
and recognize that it's a creature much cleverer than you
so learn from it how to snatch the poetry
emulate your neighbor, the mouse.

Translated from Romanian by Adam J. Sorkin and Denisa Comanescu.

Poetry in Romanian will be read and performed in English translation by actress Cristina Catalina.

Poet in the City is a London-based charity committed to organizing live events aimed at attracting new audiences to poetry and making new connections in order to support poetry education. The charity holds about twenty five major poetry events every year in and around central London.

When: Thursday 14 April, 7pm;
Where: Romanian Cultural Institute, 1 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PH.
The event is free, but booking is essential at [email protected] or 020 7752 0134.