Born in Sângeorz-Băi in Transylvania in 1971, Marin Mălaicu-Hondrari is a poet, author, translator and one of the most acclaimed authors of contemporary Romania. He grew up in a mountain village. After graduating from secondary school he went through a number of jobs, tried to write and when he was thirty-one he left for Spain where he worked as a security guard, driver and a gardener. Two years later he incorporated that experience into his first poetry collection titled Zborul femeii pe deasupra bărbatului (The Woman’s Flight Above the Man) and, another two years later, in his first novel titled Cartea tuturor intențiilor (The Book of All Intentions), which the critics described as “a powerful text written by someone who went through crazy things, but was able to keep calm and record them.” He wrote two other novels, Apropierea (The Likeness) and Lunetistul (The Sniper), and published a number of excellent translations from Spanish (of authors such as Mario Vargas Llosa, Care Santos, Enrique Nogueras, Luis Landero and others).
