Contemporary Romanian poetry will be available to English speakers, thanks to a new anthology called 'The Vanishing Point that Whistles.' The collection is described by critics as reflecting the hopes and fears of Romania's transition from a communist state to an EU member over the last 20 years and is representative of the artistic revolution that has occurred in this time.

Co-editor and translator Claudia Serea, who has lived in the US since 1995, spoke about the anthology to the local press in her adopted hometown, Rutherford. “It’s a major project for Romanian poetry. It’s the first [ English language ] anthology that publishes exclusively the young poets in Romania today,” said Serea in an interview with NorthJersey.com. A poet in her own right, Claudia Serea worked with Paul Doru Mugur and Adam J Sorkin to produce the collection of modern Romanian verse.

Reviewer Sharon Mesmer hails the book as an important mark in Romania's changing literary tradition. She also praises the collection for being an enjoyable read, saying, “it's a source of pure reading pleasure from one of the world's most poetic places. If you haven't yet gotten acquainted with the brilliance of contemporary Romanian poetry, enter here.”

'The Vanishing Point that Whistles' gathers the works of 40 poets and is published in Perfect Paperbacks by Talisman House, available via Amazon.com.

The Romanian Cultural Institute in New York will hold a launch event for the anthology on February 8, at the RCINY Auditorium on 200 East 38th Street in New York. Editor Paul Doru Mugur, translators Adam J. Sorkin and Claudia Serea will be joined by Edward Foster, the founding editor of Talisman House for the book launch at RCINY. Poets Ştefan Bălan and Adina Dabija, both having texts in the anthology, will also be present at the event. The evening will feature a poetry reading (both in English and Romanian) by actors Aaron Schroeder, Caitlin McInerney and Caroline Gombe.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com