Romanian Writers on Writing

Norman Manea left Romania in 1986, spent a year in West Berlin, and arrived in the United States in 1988. His literary work has been translated into more than twenty languages. He has received, among other awards, Guggenheim and MacArthur fellowships in the United States, the Nonino International Literary Prize in Italy, the Nelly Sachs Prize in Germany, and the Prix Médicis Étranger in France. He is a member of the Berlin Academy of Art, has been honored by the French government with the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of highest rank, and was inducted to the British Royal Society of Literature. His books in English include a memoir, The Hooligan's Return; a novel, The Black Envelope; the novellas collected in Compulsory Happiness; the short fiction collection October Eight O'Clock; and a collection of essays, On Clowns: The Dictator and the Artist. Manea lives in New York City and is Francis Flournoy Professor in European Studies and Culture at Bard College.