Head of Moldovan writers' union says year 2018 being important syntheses in national literature

Chisinau, 03 January /MOLDPRES/ – The exclusive interview for State Information Agency Moldpres by poet Arcadie Suceveanu, president of the Writers' Union of Moldova (USM).

Moldpres: Dear Mr. President, tell me, please, how was 2018 for the literary life in Moldova?

Arcadie Suceveanu: Generally speaking, we can say that 2018 was a good year for our literature, as it recorded all kinds of important works. Besides, we did all the proposed projects. We were able to edit all 12 numbers of Revista literara (Literary Magazine) without any interruption. It is a performance under the precarious economic conditions which our culture faces. Another project that has brought us real achievements is the International Poetry Festival, which was attended by writers and translators from over ten countries. Within this project, there were published several translation annotations from our literature in other languages ​​and from other languages ​​in our literature. In 2018, there were translated several novels from Azerbaijani into Romanian, and an Azerbaijan Short Prose Annotation titled Scrisoare tatalui (The letter to the father). Also, our writer's works have been translated into Azerbaijani, including a novel by Igor Volnitsky and a book by the undersigned, as well as in several European languages.

M.: I would ask you to refer to the original literature...

A.S.: In 2018, there appeared over 100 books. And this year, poetry was in the top as aesthetic relevance and number of editorial appearances. Also, the prose recorded remarkable performances. There has been a very interesting phenomenon when more and more poets and playwrights are left seduced by narrative art. Thus, the Romanian genre has a real performance. And in 2018 some novel novels appeared. At the end of the year, we also had a prose festival, where a prose magazine was released. In fact, 2018 was a year of synthesis for our literature, especially in terms of prose and essay.

M.: What, in your opinion, would be the most important editorial release of the year?

A.S.: The important editorial issue is the cycle of anthologies Literatura  din Basarabia, inceput de secol XXI (Literature from Bessarabia, Beginning of the 21st century), launched by publishing houses Arc and Science, in which in 2004 there appeared 12 volumes. The recent collection of 2018 anologises the writings written after 2000 to the present (2017), in seven volumes: novel, short prose, literary criticism, essay, dramaturgy, literature for children. It presents a panorama of our literature from the beginning of XXI-st century.

M.: What did Poet Arcadie Suceveanu bring out of print?

A.S.: In Publishing House Junimea in Iasi, a book of poetry: Cazut in rima la Paris (Fallen in Rhyme in Paris) appeared in collection Cantos. It is an anthology of the author. I took a heading at Revista literara (Literary Review) and worked on a new book of poems.

M.: How do you think it will be year 2019 for our literature?

A.S.: We still look forward to the great book of our literature that has not yet been written. In other news, we are glad that the Government of Moldova, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research continues two very important projects for our literature: The National Book Publishing Programme and the Cultural Projects Contest. Due to these projects, our books reach public libraries.

M.: Thank you for the interview and we wish you success! Happy New Year!