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CRISULA STEFANESCU

Official Website of the Author, Playwright and Poet

Bio

BIO

Crisula Stefanescu is a writer and published author of poetry, stage-plays, novels, interviews with personalities and children’s books.

Born in Romania, Crisula studies Philology at the University of Bucharest. After teaching French and Romanian for eight years, she emigrates in 1982 to Germany and settles down in Munich. There, she starts working for Radio Free Europe (RFE) until 1995, first as a Researcher/Analyst in the Research Institute of RFE. During her tenure, she writes and publishes hundreds of articles and research memos about personalities, events and ideological aspects of the Romanian, European and American cultural life, which are taken over and quoted by the English press. Later on, she hosts the cultural radio show "Controversies/Confluences East-West", where she conducts interviews with personalities and delivers weekly reviews of the cultural life in Romania and the Western world.

 

When RFE moves to Prague in 1995, Crisula decides to remain in Germany and starts writing full-time. Over 20 of her books have been published so far in Romanian, German, English, French and Russian.

Books

BOOKS

14. Calatorie cu Liftu.jpg

JOURNEY BY ELEVATOR

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MITSOU

8. Darul Domnului Borges.jpeg

MR. BORGES' GIFT

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THE GATE OF KISSES

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SIGNS

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CERBERUS AND DEANIRA

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SERGIU & IOANA CELIBIDACHE

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THE DEPARTURE OF

THE SNAKE

4. Cioranescu.jpeg

BETWEEN ADMIRATION

AND LOVE

1. Vraja Orei.jpg

THE SPELL OF THE HOUR

12. Negropontes.jpeg

THE INNER EXILE

9. Tutu.jpeg

TSUTSU

6. Teroarea Iluziei.jpeg

THE TERROR OF ILLUSION

3. Ana si Satana pic.jpg

ANA AND THE SATAN

DIALOGUE WITH TIME

Editorial Works

BOOKS

14. Calatorie cu Liftu.jpg

JOURNEY BY ELEVATOR

11. Mitsou 2.jpeg

MITSOU

8. Darul Domnului Borges.jpeg

MR. BORGES' GIFT

13. CERBERUL SI DEANIRA.jpeg

CERBERUS AND DEANIRA

10.Celibidache.jpg

SERGIU & IOANA CELIBIDACHE

7. IMG_0495.jpg

THE DEPARTURE OF

THE SNAKE

12. Negropontes.jpeg

THE INNER EXILE

9. Tutu.jpeg

TSUTSU

6. Teroarea Iluziei.jpeg

THE TERROR OF ILLUSION

5. Gate Of Kisses.jpg

THE GATE OF KISSES

4. Cioranescu.jpeg

BETWEEN ADMIRATION

AND LOVE

3. Ana si Satana pic.jpg

ANA AND THE SATAN

2. Semne.jpeg

SIGNS

BETWEEN ADMIRATION AND LOVE

CLIFFS WITH LOVE

THE KINGDOM OF THE LONG-HAIRED MAIDENS 

1. Vraja Orei.jpg

THE SPELL OF THE HOUR

MR. BORGES' PRESENT

IN WONDERLAND

VALUE AND TRUTH

BONSAI

EDITORIAL WORKS

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ALEXANDRU CIORANESCU

GEORGE CIORANESCU

CORRESPONDENCE 1946-1964

Cioranica.jpeg

GEORGE CIORANESCU

ABSURD CONFESSIONS

THE GENEROSITY

OF TALENT

Busuioceanu.jpeg

ALEXANDRU BUSUIOCEANU

POETRY AND KNOWLEDGE

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DAN ER. NEGROPONTES

IMAGES AND WORDS

DIALOGUE WITH TIME

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GEORGE CIORANESCU

AND THE ROMANIAN EXILE

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GEORGE CIORANESCU

JOURNAL. PORTRAITS. MEMORIES

POETRY AND KNOWLEDGE

In The Press

IN THE PRESS

A volume that includes conversations between Crisula Ştefănescu and the late Alexandru Ciorănescu in Tenerife, shortly before his passing away, has become one of my favorite books. Not only for the interview itself, but also for the arrangement the author made. The discussions, recorded or transcribed warmly, are interspersed with diary notes, which capture the details of the visit to the island, traditional receipes, the landscape, gestures and moods, in a montage that itself belongs to a certain type of nonfiction literature highly valued abroad.

Un volum care cuprinde discuţii realizate de Crisula Ştefănescu cu Alexandru Ciorănescu în Tenerife, cu puţin înainte de dispariţia acestuia, a devenit una dintre cărţile mele preferate. Nu doar pentru interviul în sine,  dar şi pentru aranjamentul pe care l-a făcut autoarea. Discuţiile, înregistrate sau transcrise la cald, sînt intercalate cu notaţii de jurnal, care surprind amănuntele vizitei pe insulă, felurile de mîncare, peisajul, gesturi şi stări, într-un montaj care în sine aparţine unui anumit tip de literatură nonficţională foarte preţuită în străinătate

BETWEEN ADMIRATION AND LOVE

LUMINITA MARCU

OBSERVATOR CULTURAL

No. 502, November 2009

Another type of journey through time and space is found in a volume signed by two ladies:

Journey By Elevator - Chronicle Of An Emigration. June 5, 1980 - June 21, 1982 (Editura Vremea, 2017, with a concise explanatory preface by the well-known historian Matei Cazacu, who lives in Paris). It is an epistolary novel: while waiting to be reunited as a family, the mother, Crisula Ștefănescu, and the daughter, Monella, diligently write (in the time-frame mentioned in the title of the book) to the husband and father, Andi Ștefănescu, who left for West Germany. The letters of the two heroines highlight a mood and x-ray the Romanian world of the '80s, with their strong desire to leave the country and not to be trampled on and defeated by the misery of a system, with its inherent shortcomings in all respects. And yet, we see that people live… They go to the movies, to the theater, despair does not show its fangs, even if the wait is terrible and the uncertainties bear fruit every day. However, the tone of the letters is lively and fresh, the child grows up and is carefully cared for by a loving mother (nice information that little Monella, aged ten, is read to her, in the evenings,

Plato!!?). Mother and daughter are the heroines of a book that was written while they lived it. Those dealing with the recent history of Romania could also pay attention to this volume. Epistolary only in appearance.

 

Un alt tip de călătorie prin timp și spațiu găsim într-un volum semnat de două doamne: Călătorie cu liftul. Cronica unei emigrări. 5 iunie 1980 – 21 iunie 1982 (Editura Vremea, 2017, cu o prefață amical corectă și concis explicativă a istoricului Matei Cazacu, stabilit la rîndul lui de decenii la Paris). Este vorba despre un corpus epistolar: mama, Crisula Ștefănescu, și fiica, Monella Kaplan, îi scriu de zor. în intervalul amintit în titlul cărții) unui soț și unui tată, Andi Ștefănescu, plecat în Germania  şi care urma să-și recupereze, să-și reîntregească familia. Scrisorile celor două eroine evidenţiază o stare de spirit și radiografiază lumea românească a anilor ’80, cu dorința de a pleca din țară sau de a nu te lăsa călcat în picioare şi învins de mizeriile unui sistem, cu lipsurile inerente unei lumi sub toate aspectele. Și, cu toate acestea, vedem că se trăiește… Se merge la filme, la teatru, disperarea nu-și arată colții, chiar dacă așteptarea e teribilă și incertitudinile rod zi de zi. Totuşi, tonul scrisorilor e viu și proaspăt, copila crește și e atent îngrijită de o mamă iubitoare (simpatică informația conform căreia micii Monella, în vîrstă de zece ani, i se citește, serile, din Platon!!?). Mamă și fată sînt eroinele unei cărți care s-a scris în timp ce ele au trăit-o. Cei care se ocupă de istoria recentă a României ar putea să acorde atenție și acestui volum. Epistolar doar în aparență.

JOURNEY BY ELEVATOR

BEDROS HORASANGIAN

OBSERVATOR CULTURAL,

No. 880, July, 2017

This new publication will probably not come onto the book market completely unexpectedly: the one about the famous Romanian conductor Sergiu Celibidache, who died in 1996 and whose 100 years birthday anniversary was in 2012. It is not actually a biography of the former chief conductor of the Berlin and Munich Philharmonic, and certainly not a work about his interpretive art; but rather a loosely assembled, kaleidoscopic image of a life lived together, portrayed from the point of view of his wife, the painter Ioana Celibidache. The text is based on five detailed interviews that the Romanian journalist Crisula Stefanescu conducted in Paris with Ioana Celibidache in 2011, shortly before her passing away in 2012.

 

Ganz unerwartet kommt diese Neuerscheinung wohl nicht auf den Buchmarkt: jene über den berühmten rumänischen, 1996 verstorbenen Dirigenten Sergiu Celibidache, dessen Geburtstag sich 2012 zum 100 Mal jährt. Es handelt sich dabei nicht eigentlich um eine Biografie über den einstigen Chefdirigenten der Berliner und der Münchner Philharmoniker, schon gar nicht um ein Werk über seine Interpretationskunst; sondern eher um ein locker gefügtes, kaleidoskopartiges Bild über ein Zusammenleben, geschildert aus der Sicht der Ehefrau, der Malerin Ioana Celibidache. Der Text basiert auf fünf ausführlichen Interviews, die die rumänische Journalistin Crisula Stefanescu im Jahr 2011 in Paris mit Ioana Celibidache führte, kurz vor deren Tod im Jahr 2012.

SERGIU & IOANA CELIBIDACHE

WINFRIED ROESSLER

DAS ORCHESTER

October, 2012

The poet has a permanent thirst for poetry. She cannot reconcile herself in any way with the condition of being a prisoner of everyday life.

  Poeta are o permanentă sete de poezie. Nu se poate împăca în niciun chip cu condiția de prizonieră a vieții de fiecare zi.

THE SPELL OF THE HOUR

ALEX STEFANESCU

ROMANIA LITERARA

No. 35, September 1999

Mitsou is a vegetarian cat, and above all, Mitsou has a lot to tell! Abandoned as a kitten in a barn, Mitsou first wants to be given a name other than "kitty"! And despite his repeated requests, it will take a lot of patience for him to meet someone who will give him a name!

One day, finally, his path crosses a nice lady who will give him a name: Mitsou! But Mitsou is not a common cat. In addition to being a vegetarian, he likes to make new friends, even if they are unusual to say the least: a butterfly, a rhubarb leaf, but above all, a mouse ... And it is with a little mouse, Peppi, that Mitsou will begin his great adventures. A cat and a mouse as friends? It does not exist! In the world of a vegetarian cat, anything is possible! Mitsou is a book for older children who are starting to read on their own. There's a lot of content and it's a great story of his adventures: the friendship of a cat and a mouse. It's a beautiful story, full of poetry, twists and turns and above all very "human". Definitely to discover!

Mitsou by Crisula Stefanescu appeared in the V collection of L’Âge d´Homme Publishing House.


 

  Mitsou est un chat végétalien. Un jour, enfin, son chemin croise une gentille dame qui lui donnera un nom et le recueillera: il sera Mitsou! Mais Mitsou n’est pas un chat comme les autres. En plus d’être végétalien, il aime se faire de nouveaux amis, même si ceux-ci sont pour le moins inhabituels: papillon, feuille de rhubarbe, mais surtout souris…

Et c’est avec une petite souris que Mitsou va commencer ses grandes aventures. Un chat et une souris amis? Ca n’existe pas! Dans le monde d’un chat végétalien, tout est possible!

Mitsou est un livre qui s’adresse à des enfants un peu grands, qui commencent à lire par eux-mêmes. Il y a pas mal de contenu et c’est une grande histoire que cette aventure: l’amitié d’un chat et d’une souris. C’est une belle histoire, pleine de poésie, de rebondissements et avant tout très «humaine». A découvrir !

Mitsou de Crisula Stefanescu est paru dans la collection V des éditions L’Âge d’Homme.

CONTACT

For any media inquiries, please contact Monella Kaplan:

Tel: +1(310) 666-4737  |          mkaplan@emotion-ent.com

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