Internationally awarded writer Mircea Cartarescu and his Finnish peers Sofi Oksanen and Timo Parvela are among the special guests of the fourth edition of the SepsiBook Fair and Contemporary Literature Festival which will take place between May 22 - 25 at the Sepsi Arena in Sfantu Gheorghe, the organizers announced on Tuesday.
About 40 publishing houses from Romania and Hungary will participate in the event, and the public will have the opportunity to meet other contemporary writers too.
"Sofi Oksanen is a famous name not only in Finnish literature, but in universal literature too, having been translated into more than 40 languages. (...) Timo Parvela is a favorite author of several generations of children and parents, again translated into many languages. (...) We are happy to have Mircea Cartarescu with us again, both at the opening ceremony and afterwards, for a cameo discussion. I think there have been 11 years since he was last here, in Sfântu Gheorghe, and (...) we are happy that he accepted our invitation. He is the internationally most famous name of Romanian contemporary literature and, looking at his creation, at his books, we can say that he is a landmark in Romanian and even universal literature, particularly post-90 Romanian literature," director of the Sfantu Gheorghe County Library Szonda Szabolcs told a press conference.
Coordinator of the festival Gombos Zoltan specified that in addition to book launches and presentations, literary meetings and autograph sessions, the event will also include colorful programs for children, exhibitions, Ikebana workshops, concerts, shows, coffee tastings, and even sports activities.
The budget allocated to the event is approximately RON 875,000, of which the Sfantu Gheorghe Local Council contributed RON 500,000, and the difference will be provided by the County Library and the Mikes Kelemen Cultural Association.
"This event is a celebration of written culture and encounters with books, a literary and community experience. Last year we had more than 10,000 visitors and we hope that this year their number will be even higher. We are particularly pleased that, in addition to authors and prominent representatives of Hungarian and Romanian literature, we will also welcome international guests, and here I should mention the Finnish authors, for example. This is also important because Finland is the country that, on the 100th anniversary of the Finnish state, built a library. I believe that we can learn from a nation that marks the state's centennial anniversary by building a library," Sfantu Gheorghe deputy mayor Eva Sztakics declared at the press conference.
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