Book launch | The Universal Within The Local: An Australian-Romanian Poetic Dialogue with Mihai Eminescu 2023-2025

Lineup

• More details about Danile Ionita [Emcee and Editor] - The Universal Within The Local

  Danile Ionita [Emcee and Editor] - The Universal Within The Local

  Hailing from Bucharest, Romania, Daniel Ionita teaches part time at the University of Technology Sydney, and is president of the Australian-Romanian Academy for Culture. Daniel's poetry has been published in Romania (Hanging Between the Stars – Minerva, 2013; The Island of Words from Home – Limes Cluj 2017) and Australia (Short Bursts of Eternity – Flying Islands 2020, Pentimento – Interactive Press,2021). He was principal editor & translator for the bilingual anthologies Testament - 400 Years of Romanian Poetry (Minerva, Bucharest 2019), The Bessarabia of My Soul (Mediaton, Toronto 2018) and Return Ticket from Sydney to Bistrița (ARA Publishing, Sydney 2022).

• More details about George Roca

  George Roca

  A Romanian writer living in Sydney, Australia, George Roca is one of the most significant promoters of Romanian culture outside Romania, chief-editor to publications international literary publications, in print and online, such as "Literary Confluences", "Pro-Diaspora", "Bumerang Literar"and many others – for which he produced and edited over ten thousand articles over the last 30 years. ln poetry, he published the volumes "Escape from the Virtual Space", "Seeking the lsland of Happiness" and "Multilingual Encripted Poems" -many of his poems being included in numerous anthologies – among others "Testament - 400 Years of Romanian Poetry" and "Romanian Poetry from its Origins to the Present". George has also produced volumes of essays and interwiews. The monumental (four volumes, 2000 pages) "The Secret of Writing" – in which he invites writers to confess what has driven them start writing, is worth a special mention; as are the four volumes of interviews with famous sports and artistic personalities titled "Chatting to the Stars". George Roca is the Honorary President of the Australian-Romanian Academy for Culture; among the many distinctions received, In 2019 he was also awarded Medal of Merit by the Minister for Romanians Abroad for his significant contribution to the promotion of Romanian culture outside Romania.

• More details about Angela Stretch

  Angela Stretch

  Angela Stretch is a Sydney based artist, writer, producer and presenter of radio cultural programs, originally from Otautahi Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand. Angela explores knowledge and perception, expectation and plausibility, articulating alternate orders of truth that challenge constructs of time, sense of place, and systems of thought. She is the Director of Poetry Sydney.

• More details about Adriana Mester - Eminescu in Australia or the Dialectic of Identity

  Adriana Mester - Eminescu in Australia or the Dialectic of Identity

  Writer and Doctor of Philology (Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj) Adriana Meșter, is a teacher of Romanian Language and Literature at the ”Gheorghe Șincai” National College in Baia Mare, Romania. Her debut volume” A Diary in the Mirror” (Limes Publishing, Cluj – 2018) was awarded poetry prizes by two significant literary magazines: ”Cronica” from Iași, and ”Familia” from Oradea, Romania.

• More details about James Gering - Video introduction

  James Gering - Video introduction

  Originally from South Africa, James Gering is an Australian citizen living now in Washington DC. He is diarist, poet and short story writer. He has received various international awards and prizes for his stories and poems and was the Australian Society of Authors Emerging Poet of the Year, 2018. His publication credits include Meanjin, Cordite, Rattle, The Rockvale Review, and San Pedro River Review. Poetry volumes published include Staying Whole While Falling Apart and Tickets to the Fall of Icarus. Before settling recently in the United States of America, James lived in the Blue Mountains, where he climbed the cliffs and rappels the canyons in search of Rilke's genius, Chekhov's humility, and escape in general.

• More details about Anne Casey

  Anne Casey

  Anne Casey is the author of six poetry collections. Her work is widely published and awarded internationally, ranking in The Irish Times’ Most Read. Her recent awards include the American Writers Review Prize, AAALS Poetry Prize, Henry Lawson Poetry Prize and iWoman Global Award for Literature. She holds a PhD in archival poetry and poetics of resistance from UTS where she researches and teaches creative writing. anne-casey.com @1annecasey

• More details about Charles Freyberg

  Charles Freyberg

  Charles Freyberg is a Kings Cross (Sydney) poet and professional reciting performance artist. His book Dining at the Edge is published by Ginninderra Press. He alternates writing about inner city eccentrics and bush landscape - both threatened with destruction in our times. He performs his work widely around Sydney. His latest published volume is The Crumbling Mansion.

• More details about Dimitra Harvey

  Dimitra Harvey

  Dimitra Harvey was born in Sydney to a Greek mother. Her collection of poems, A Fistful of Hail, was published by Vagabond Press in 2018. Her poems have appeared in Australian literary journals such as ”Meanjin”, ”Southerly”, ”Cordite”, and ”Mascara Literary Review”, as well as anthologies such as The Best Australian Poems. In 2018, she was awarded third place in the ”Hunter Writers Centre Newcastle Poetry Prize”.

• More details about Anisoara Laura Mustetiu

  Anisoara Laura Mustetiu

  Anișoara Laura Mustețiu is a Romanian-born author, and cultural broadcasts radio producer & presenter, living in Sydney, Australia. She is known for her literary fiction, poetry, and cultural contributions. With published works in both Romanian and English, she blends emotional storytelling with themes of identity, resilience, and heritage. As a writer, editor, and founder of cultural initiatives, she continues to shape Romanian literature on a global stage. Anişoara holds a Bachelor of Creative Writing and Communication (Griffith University, Australia, 2017). Her poems were published in magazines such as Literary Confluences, Logos & Agape, Pro Diaspora. Anişoara published the volumes Travel in Time, A Life Story in Poems (2020), Yarran, Stories from Australia, Children's Book (2020), Pieces of a Woman’s Life/Crîmpeie din Viața unei Femei (Australian-Romanian Academy Publishing, 2023)

• More details about Ovidiu Oprea

  Ovidiu Oprea

  Ovidiu Adrian Oprea qualified as a Mechanical Engineer at the University of Timișoara, Romania, and continued his studies at the University of Sydney, after immigrating to Australia. Currently his is the Pastor of the Dulwich Hill Baptist Church. Adrian is passioned about music and is a member of a musical group. He also writes poetry, which has been published in various literary magazines in print and online, both in Australia and in Romania.

• More details about Tatiana Bonch Osmolovskaya

  Tatiana Bonch Osmolovskaya

  Tatiana Bonch-Osmolovskaya was born in Simferopol, Crimea, of the former USSR. She has a numerous book publication in Russian, including award- winning collections of short stories and essays and two poetry collections, and a number of English poetry publications in London Grip, POEM, Rochford Street Review, Can I tell you a secret? Not So Quiet, Skywriters, Across the Russian Wor(l)d, Bridges, Transitions; East West Literary Forum, Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, ROAR, and other editions. Tatiana is an editor of Articulation independent literary journal (published in Russian and English), and Board member of PEN Moscow. Since 2003, she has been living and working in Sydney, Australia.

• More details about Adriana Paul

  Adriana Paul

  Adriana Paul is a lyric soprano, performing artist, poet, and translator. Poetry, music and the natural world are her lifelong muses and never-ending sources of inspiration and sustenance. Adriana’s poems have appeared in various poetry anthologies including A return ticket from Sydney to Bistrita (2021) and she contributed to the translation of poetry from her native Romanian into English, such as Testament-400 Years of Romanian Poetry (Minerva Pulishing House, 2019), Romanian Poetry from its Origins to the Present (Australian-Romanian Academy Publishing, 2020) and Swimming Against the Storm – The Poetry of Kit Kelen (Australian Romanian Academy Publishing, Sydney - 2022).