Leonard Oprea

Leonard Oprea (born December 1953) is a contemporary Romanian writer.

He was born in Prejmer, a village in Braşov County in the south-eastern part of Transylvania, central Romania. He studied at the "University of Braşov", and in 1990 he specialized in mass-media communication at California State University, Chico. Since 1999 he has been living in the United States, currently in Boston, Massachusetts.

Life and career

Leonard Oprea was an anti-communist dissident ["Congressional Record": "Human Rights in Romania", Vol. 136, Washington, DC, Thursday, July 26, 1990, issue No.98.] [ [http://www.romlit.ro/ "Romania Literara"] (Literary Romania - a weekly magazine on Romanian cultural issues))(ISSN 1584-9465),#27, July 13 2007, Tudorel Urian, Dumnezeu si Lumea de Azi (God and Today's World). This article refers to Oprea as a 'genuine dissident'. Search site for specific content.] in Romania during "Nicolae Ceauşescu" 's dictatorship. Between 1980 and 1987 he published a book and several short stories, which were honored with national literary prizes. After 1987, the Securitate (the Secret Police of the Communist regime), "officially forbade" the publication of his writings. [Tismăneanu, Vladimir. [http://www.jurnalul.ro/articole/53582/o-voce-autentic-diferita "O voce autentic diferită" (A Genuinely Different Voice)] ,"Jurnalul Naţional", January 8-9, 2005.]

After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, living in Bucharest, he gained reputation as a well-known Romanian writer, journalist and editor. He was able to resume publishing his works: novels, short stories, tales and essays, meditations etc. He founded the Romanian Publishing House "Athena", the "Vladimir Colin" Romanian Cultural Foundation as well as the "Vladimir Colin" international award.

In the United States, between 2002-2008, he published essays and short stories in the American-Romanian newspapers and cultural magazines, such as the International Electronic Weekly "Acum", the "New-York Magazin" weekly newspaper, and in the "Romanian Times", a cultural, social and religious review of the Romanian diaspora in the US.

Works

Books originally in Romanian

*"Domenii interzise" (Forbidden areas), short stories and novellas; Albatros Publishing House, 1984.
*"Radiografia clipei" (The x-ray of an instant), short stories and novellas "banned in Communist Romania in 1987"; Editura Dacia, 1990, Romania; the second edition with critical references, at Editura Curtea Veche, 2003.
*"Cămaşa de forţă" (The Straitjacket), novel "banned in Communist Romania 1988"; Editura Nemira, 1992; second edition with a foreword by Liviu Antonesei and critical references, at Editura Curtea Veche, 2004; with a foreword by Gelu Vlasin, LiterNet Publishing House, 2005
*"Theophil Magus - Confesiuni 2004-2006" (Theophil Magus - Confessions 2004-2006), American and Romanian essays; with a foreword by Vladimir Tismăneanu; Universal Dalsi Publishing House, 2007. In this book Leonard Oprea created The Breathing, a new kind of essay in the Romanian and universal literature. The Breathing is a short, simple but profound meditation about human condition, a meditation ended by a haiku. But - this haiku does not end the meditation. In fact, this haiku RE-opens the meditation to new interrogations and answers about the human condition. There are 100 Breathings in this book. [Tismăneanu, Vladimir. [http://www.evz.ro/index.php?zone=articole&task=detalii-articol&item=455027&page=SENATUL-EVZ-Leonard-Oprea-si-ranile-morale-ale-postcomunismului&current_date=2008-08-11 "Leonard Oprea si ranile morale ale postcomunismului" (Leonard Oprea and the Moral Wounds of the Post-communism)] , "Evenimentul Zilei", August 8, 2007.] [Roznoveanu, Mireala. [http://vetiver.weblog.ro/2008-08-26/495288/Leonard-Oprea%3A-BREATHING.html] "BREATHING", "Vetiver New York Literary Blog", August 26, 2008.] [Performance - the International Cultural Network. [http://reteaualiterara.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=1971741%3ABlogPost%3A41479] , "2 BREATHINGS", "Reteaua Literara", August, 2008.] [Romanian Times. [http://www.romaniantimes.org/LeonardOprea.html] , "Culture", August, 2008.]

*"The TRILOGY of THEOPHIL MAGUS":
**"Cele Nouă Invăţături ale lui Theophil Magus despre Magia Transilvană" (The Nine Teachings of Theophil Magus on Transylvanian Magic), Ed. Polirom, 2000.
**"The Book Of Theophil Magus Or 40 Tales About Man" (Cartea lui Theophil Magus sau 40 de Poveşti despre Om), with a foreword by Liviu Antonesei; Polirom, 2001. Paperback English version (translated from Romanian by Bogdan Stefanescu); foreword by Vladimir Tismăneanu; published in the United States by Ingram Book Group, 2003; new edition at AuthorHouse, 2004. ISBN 141075278X (Trade Paperback).
**"Meditaţiile lui Theophil Magus sau Simple Cugetări Creştine la Începutul Mileniului III" (The Meditations of Theophil Magus or Simple Christian Thoughts at the Beginning of the Third Millennium), Polirom, 2002.

Books originally in English

*"Theophil Magus in Baton Rouge - a haiku-novel" (a novel made up of 101 haiku) with a foreword by Bogdan Stefanescu; published in the United States by Xlibris Corp./Random House Ventures), 2008; illustrated editions, ISBN13: 978-1-4363-0965-3 (Trade Paperback); ISBN13: 978-1-4363-0966-0 (Hardback).
*"Trilogy of Theophil Magus - The Truth" (a novel made up of short stories) with a foreword by Vladimir Tismaneanu and an afterword by Liviu Antonesei; published in the United States by Xlibris Corp./Random House Ventures, 2008; illustrated editions, ISBN13: 978-1-4363-2365-9 (Trade Paperback); ISBN13: 978-1-4363-2366-6 (Hardback).

Notes