Romanian Poetry in Transition

Romanian culture experienced dramatic changes in the transition from the Ceaușescu era to post revolution, and the ensuing Romanian diaspora has transported these changes across Europe, including to cities across the UK and Ireland. 

Join poets Maria Stadnicka and Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin for an afternoon of poetry readings and conversation with Shannon Kuta Kelly to traverse the many ways that continued contact with Romania and its poetries inflects poetic production. 

Maria Stadnicka is a writer, editor and freelance journalist who is currently a PhD researcher and associate lecturer at the University of the West of England. Her writing explores social identity, transgenerational trauma transmission, cultural theory and the ethics of memory. She is the author of five poetry collections and her poetry was highly commended for the Forward Poetry Prize 2021. Her latest collection Buried Gods Metal Prophets (2021) was included among the best poetry books of 2021 by The Telegraph and the collection, Somnia (2020), was named one of the best poetry books to read in 2020. Her latest collection, Uranium Bullets is forthcoming in 2022. She recently performed her work at Edinburgh Festival, StAnza International Poetry Festival and Cheltenham Literature Festival. She is a contributor to International Times (UK) and Dissident Voice (US). 

Born in Cork, Irish poet, translator, and editor Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin is the author of numerous poetry collections, including The Mother House (2020), The Boys of Bluehill (2015), which was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection and The Sun-fish (2010), which won the International Griffin Poetry Prize. She has translated numerous books including The Legend of the Walled-Up Wife (2012) by the Romanian poet Ileana Malancioiu and co-translated Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill’s The Water Horse (2001) with Medbh McGuckian. 

Shannon Kuta Kelly is a writer, translator, and musician based in Belfast. Her work has been published in Poetry Ireland Review, the Irish Times, Body Prague, the London Magazine, and in Poetry Jukebox installations across Europe. She has collaborated with the Romanian ConTempo String Quartet for events such as the Dublin Enescu Festival and performances in conjunction with the Embassy of Romania in Ireland. She is a doctoral student at Queen’s University Belfast researching poetry and censorship in Romania and Northern Ireland.