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Literary festival in Romania
“It was especially touching to meet writers from countries which are genetically related to us through the female line of descent: The Irishman Tomás Mac Siomóin, who teaches Gaelic in Barcelona; Scotsman Donny O'Rourke, who sang during the evenings; the Welsh Fiona Sampson and the English-Cypriot Alev Adil,” says writer Þórunn Erlu-Valdimarsdóttir, who recently represented Iceland at the festival “Days and Nights of Literature” in Neptun, Romania. Roughly 60 writers from around the world attended the event, with Erlu-Valdimarsdóttir the sole Scandinavian participant. She expresses happiness with the festival, citing the opportunity to meet foreign colleagues as its crowning feature:
“It was thrilling to speak to the Indian and Chinese participants, as well as the Palestinian Naim Araidy, a poet and professor of Hebrew, and Muhammad Salmawy, the chairman of the Egyptian Writers' Association. My own country's woes shrank into insignificance, like Icelandic mountains vanishing into the Alps. It's remarkable to be directly exposed to such chilling tales.”
As the festival's title suggests, the schedule was tightly packed, with lectures during the day, and readings from the attendees' works in the evenings. A multilingual collection of poetry by the participating writers was published for the occasion – in the original languages, Romanian and English/French. The lectures delivered will also be published. This years recipient of the festival's honorary prize was Jean D'Ormesson, author and former editor of Le Figaro, while the Canadian Madeleine Thien received a prize intended to encourage emerging talent.
Erlu-Valdimarsdóttir's lecture was characterized by optimism for the future of the novel: “There are endless stories to tell,” she reassured the audience. “Fresh realities, new healthy ways to shock the reader. Book anxiety is without cause.”
Erlu-Valdimarsdóttir brought along a freshly printed English translation of her poetry, a promotional copy titled Antennae scratch sky. “It was good that the book came out in time for the festival, because writers who get to know and appreciate one another usually exchange books,” she told Sagenhaftes Island. She also wanted to use the occasion to thank the Icelandic Literature Fund: “On the book's flyleaf, there was supposed to be an acknowledgement the support we received from them, but it was omitted. So, I hereby express my heartfelt gratitude to the Literature Fund for their translation- and travel grants.”