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New Releases by Casa Radio Publishers

Corina Sabău, 24.01.2015, 14:07

Besides the latest releases of already well-established collections of audio books, illustrated books and CDS, at the 21st Gaudeamus International Book Fair, held in November 2014, Casa Radio publishers offered the public a unique event in Romanian literature: Tandem” by Tudor Banus and Serban Foarta. It was a release that turned upside down an unwritten law of international literature, that of big books illustrated by great artists, because the absolute first in that case was the poetic illustration of the works of a visual artist.

Tandem” was born on the pages of Observator cultural”, a weekly cultural magazine. Tandem. 50 poems by Serban Foarta on drawings by Tudor Banus, recited by the author and engraved on a double CD”, is not just an extraordinary visual display of the poems that give life to drawings, but also an audio show. Writer Mircea Cartarescu attended the book launch and spoke about Tandem”.

Mircea Cartarescu: “I believe that through what he did, Tudor Banus actually went beyond Romania’s borders; he is a European artist, an artist that made illustrations for the most important magazines and reviews in the US and France. He is a highly appreciated artist, who combines old painting, engraving and drawing techniques with elements of modernity, a modernity coming from surrealism, from the experiences of Giorgio de Chirico and other avant-garde domains. He, however, remains a classic in nature, just like Chirico did, despite his huge premonitions about the art of the future. I am very happy that Tudor Banus has found time to illustrate Romanian books too, and I believe that this collaboration with Serban Foarta is the right thing for him. They are very much alike, belonging to the same family of artists and to probably the most interesting trend in the history of European art and thinking, namely mannerism, in the very best sense of the word, that of the 1520-1640, which included names like Shakespeare and Gongora.”

Editura Radio publishing house has continued its series called the “Romanian Poetry Library”, launching, also at the fair, the audio book “Mariana Marin, an open letter or Don’t expect me at early hours”, a compilation of poems recited on the radio (1991-2002) and illustrated by Tudor Jebeleanu. Mariana Marin, a representative poet of the 1980s generation, left the poetry stage quite early, but she has remained on the top shelves of Romanian literature. The volume launched by Casa Radio includes, besides poems by Mariana Marin, testimonies and recollections by Romulus Bucur, Mircea Cartarescu, Bogdan Ghiu, Florin Iaru and Ion Bogdan Lefter. Critic Nicolae Manolescu signed the foreword to the new book.

Here is Daria Ghiu, from the Casa Radio Publishers: “This is more than a book, it’s a set including a book and an audio book, with recordings that Mariana Marin made at Radio Romania between 1991 and 2002, more precisely 27 poems read on the radio. The audio book also includes an interview with Mariana Marin, as well as a poem by Virgil Mazilescu, read by Mariana Marin. As I said, this is more than a common book. It is also an art book, because the illustrations are made by graphic designer Tudor Jebeleanu. Whereas Mariana Marin was a representative poet for the ‘80s, Tudor Jebeleanu is the ‘visual artist’ emblematic for that decade. The book also includes a foreword by critic Nicolae Manolescu, and testimonials, texts written by Mariana Marin’s friends and colleagues.”

Here is writer Florin Iaru, talking about poet Mariana Marin: “Mariana Marin—Madi, as her friends used to call her—was a cheerful person, who loved life. She was very passionate about things, and had a great sense of humor, although cruel humor at times. I’m going to tell you some things about Madi, as she was before being a poet. Because all of us, before being poets, were just dreaming of being poets, of writing and of having our works read by people. And I remember we were in Mariana’s one-room flat on the seventh floor, drinking red wine made by her parents, and talking poetry, of course. And we were wondering what to do to make sure our message, our soul reaches the readers. Madi was the most radical poet of our generation, the most politically involved, I know no other Romanian poet with so much interest in politics than Mariana Marin.”

The 120 years since the birth of writer Camil Petrescu were celebrated at the Casa Radio Publishers through the release of a CD-box called “Theatre.” It includes 6 CDs, 3 radio plays taken from Radio Romania’s audio library, performed by great artists like Radu Beligan, Clody Berthola, Stefan Ciubotarasu, Octavian Cotescu, Ion Manolescu, and presented by theatre critic Florica Ichim. In the “Radio-Prichindel” and “Good Night, Children” collections, classical Romanian children’s stories are released in the form of graphic or audio books or of illustrated books accompanied by CDs. Actress Alexandrina Halic plays the characters Apolodor the Penguin, Amedeu the Lion and Ilie the Kangaroo, from Gellu Naum’s “The Second Apolodor Book,” released as an audio book with illustrations by Alexandru Ciubotariu. Another audio and visual performance is the one based on Ion Barbu’s poetry, read by Victor Rebengiuc, Emil Botta, A. E. Baconsky and Romulus Vulpescu.