Dan Lungu: Humorously serious

– Romania

Born in 1969 in Botoşani, Dan Lungu is a writer, director of the National Literature Museum in Iași, associate professor at the Department of Sociology of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University and a senator. His humorous novels reveal the author’s background in sociology and touch on serious social topics such as life under a totalitarian regime in Raiul găinilor (Hen’s Heaven), a generational conflict of ideas in Sunt o babă comunistă (I Am An Old Communist Hag), the breakdown of a relationship in Cum să uiţi o femeie (How to Forget a Woman), or the lives of children whose parents work abroad in Fetiţa care s-a jucat de-a Dumnezeu (The Little Girl Who Played at Being God). “I am interested in details that upset the balance and make waves. Hiccups or missteps that break the spell. Instances of fumbling that inadvertently disrupt societies and force us to keep asking about who we are.” Dan Lungu is among the most translated contemporary Romanian writers.