Romania at London Book Fair 2025 - poet Ana Blandiana, actress Oana Pellea showcased as guests

 As part of a diverse program running on the sidelines of Romania's participation in the March 11 - 13 London Book Fair, the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) and ICR's National Book Center organize a string of events under the motto "Literature as Redemption", intended to highlight the saving power of literature in the darkest moments of existence. Poet Ana Blandiana, writer and publisher Denisa Comanescu, and actress Oana Pellea will be among the guests of the Romanian Cultural Institute, the organizer of Romania's stand at the fair, ICR said in a release."Romania's presence at the London Book Fair is key, as it represents an opportunity to integrate the works of Romanian authors on a particularly important and demanding, globally impactful market. As a fair dedicated to industry professionals, it can open new perspectives for Romanian literature in the English-speaking world and beyond. Throughout the duration of the fair, we invite all interested professionals - writers, translators, publishers - to the Romanian stand for meetings with partners in the book industry," ICR president Liviu Jicman declared, as cited in the release.Several literary events will be organized at the Romanian Cultural Institute in London with poets Ana Blandiana and Fiona Sampson, translator Viorica Patea, publishers and authors Neil Astley, Monique Charlesworth, Denisa Comanescu and Dan Plesa, and cultural manager, translator and publisher Alexandra Buchler."The Shaw Theatre will be the venue for an extraordinarily meaningful experience for the audience, a show by and with Oana Pellea - the dramatization of Lena Constante's autobiographical book 'Silent Escape, 3,000 Days Alone in Romanian Prisons'," added Liviu Jicman.The ICR National Book Center CENNAC will exhibit at the national stand set up in space 5B105 of the Olympia Exhibition Centre approximately 300 volumes of Romanian fiction, albums dedicated to contemporary artists and the Romanian cultural heritage, as well as English translations of books by Romanian authors, printed by foreign publishers with the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute through the Translation and Publication Support Programme and Publishing Romania funding programs.The selection of titles will be accompanied by informative materials about the Romanian book market (catalogs, flyers, brochures).Also showcased will be a new catalog edited by the Romanian Cultural Institute titled "35 New Reasons to Read Romanian Literature Today", which includes the translations into English of 25 prose fragments and 10 poems signed by contemporary Romanian authors, selections from volumes that enjoyed a good critical and public reception, published in 2023 and 2024.The Romanian participation in the London Book Fair is organized by the ICR through CENNAC and ICR London, with the support of the Romanian Embassy, Shaw Theatre, Kibo Productions, the 'Povesti spuse-n romaneste/Romanian Narrated Stories initiative, Rostalgy, Bloodaxe Books, Moth Books and the Romanian Publishers Association.The London Book Fair, hosted by Olympia London and dedicated exclusively to professionals from the global book industry, serves as a hub for publishers, literary professionals, and writers from across the globe. (Photo: https://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/en-gb/visit/illustrators.html)