Ana Blandiana

Ana Blandiana (born Otilia Valeria Coman, b. 1942) is one of the most admired Romanian poets.

She was born in Blandiana, Alba County, to Otilia and George Coman.

Literary career

• Debut in 1959, in Tribuna, Cluj-Napoca, signing for the first time Ana Blandiana, as well as in the anthology 30 de poeţi tineri (30 Young Poets)
• 1963 – after an interdiction of four years, another debut in the revue "Contemporanul", directed by George Ivaşcu
• 1964 – Editorial debut with the poem thin booklet Persoana intâia plural (First Person at Plural), with a Forward written by Nicolae Manolescu

Imposes herself with Calcâiul vulnerabil (Achiless' Heel, 1966) and A treia taină ((Third Secret, 1969)

• 1966 – First participation to an International Poem Contest in Lathi, Finland
• 1967 – establishes her residence in Bucharest
• 1967-1968 – editor at Viaţa studenţească revue
• 1968-1975 – editor at Amfiteatru revue
• 1969 – Two TV Films of Poetry, together with Andrei Şerban and the actors Irina Petrescu, Mariana Mihuţ and Florian Pittiş
• 1975-1977 – Librarian at the Institute of Fine Arts, Bucharest
• 1976 – first publication in French in "Anthologie du Club des Poètes", Paris
• 1978 – participates at the First International Festival of Poetry in Paris
• In the late 80s, assuming risks of reprisals of the communist regime, started writing protesting poems, as an answer to the aberrations of the communist regime in Romania, in general, and of the Ceausescu couple in particular
• After the revolution, enters the political life, fighting for truth and communist sequels elimination. The creation remains, as in other cases, on the second level. Nevertheless, publishes "Arhitectura valurilor" (Architecture of Waves, 1990), 100 de poeme (100 Poems, 1991), Sertarul cu aplauze (The Drawer with Applauses, prose, 1992)
• Published:
  • 16 volumes of poems, among which: Calcâiul vulnerabil, (Achilles' Heel) 1966; A treia taină, (Third Secret), 1969;
  • 50 de poeme, (50 Poems), 1970: Octombrie, Noiembrie, Decembrie, (October, November, December), 1972; Întâmplări din grădina mea (Stories from My Garden), 1980; Ora de nisip (Sand Hour), 1984; Întâmplări de pe strada mea (Stories in My Street), 1988; 100 de poeme (100 Poems), 1991; În dimineaţa de după moarte (Next Morning After Death), 1996; La cules îngeri (Gathering Angels), 1997; Cartea albă a lui Arpagic (Arpagic' s White Book), 1998
  • 6 books of essays
  • 4 books in prose
  • Translated in 16 languages

Affiliations

• Member of the Writers Union of Romania
• Member of the European Academy of Poets
• Chairman of the Romanian PEN-CLUB, after its re-establishment in 1990
• 1994 – Founder and leader of the Civic Alliance Foundation, a Romanian non-party movement, whose aim is to annihilate the tragic consequences of more than 50 years of communism in Romania.