Meet the author: Iulian Bocai
In October, the young Romanian writer Iulian Bocai will be writer-in-residence at Passa Porta. He will be working on a new book, but will gladly also make time to talk with Belgian author Jeroen Theunissen about his work and share his view of contemporary Romania. Literary translator Charlotte van Rooden also contributes an account of her experience with Romanian authors.
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priță barsacu
Iulian Bocai’s debut novel introduced readers to the intelligent and curious Priță Barsacu, who at a young age develops an uncommon passion for nature. While his classmates are busy thieving and vandalizing, he spends his days categorizing insects. Bocai depicts with great warmth an enchanting childhood spent amid poverty and violence, in which Priță tries with all his might to keep his head above water. The book won several awards in Romania and abroad. De Geus recently published a Dutch translation by Charlotte van Rooden.
‘This seemingly small book opens up a vast world, at once melancholic and dark, that you long to linger in.’
brussels
During his residency at Passa Porta, Bocai will work on a new, rather absurd novel about a missing woman, written in the style of a journalistic report. In it, he will explore such themes as existential failure, being a woman in contemporary Romania, and the country’s wealthy entrepreneurial class. We will ask Bocai whether he can tell us more about this novel and, of course, what he thinks of life in Brussels.
about the author
Iulian Bocai (b. 1986) is a Romanian novelist, essayist and reviewer who also teaches literature and creative writing at the University of Bucharest.
In 2024 he was among the emerging Romanian authors selected for the European talent development programme CELA . Before he started writing, he translated novels and children’s books from English, French and German into Romanian. He has now published four books.
about the translator
Charlotte van Rooden (b. 1993) is a historian who translates from Romanian and German. She graduated from the Vertalersvakschool in 2021. To date, she has translated three novels from Romanian into Dutch: Hartenvrouw by Iulian Ciocan and De glazen tuin by Tatiana Țîbuleac, both published by Pegasus, and Het vreemde en aangrijpende leven van Priță Barsacu by Iulian Bocai, released by De Geus. For Atlas Contact, she translated Sekscultuur by Bettina Stangneth from German. She regularly publishes translations in literary magazines and is working on the translation of Ruxandra Burcescu’s debut novel.
about the moderator
Jeroen Theunissen (1977) is a Belgian writer and teacher creative writing. In 2004 he published his debut novel. Since then he has written three poetry collections, a collection of short stories and six novels. In 2022 he published a personal account of a walk he took across Europe, from Ireland to Turkey. In his latest novel, published last year, he paints a compassionate and loving portrait of a young woman about to die.
Photos Iulian Bocai and Charlotte van Rooden © Gaby Jongenelen for CELA
Jeroen Theunissen © Koen Broos
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Soon at Passa Porta
