POLIROM PUBLISHING HOUSE

Founded in February 1995 in Iaşi, POLIROM is a joint-stock company, one of the most important publishing houses in Romania.

The editorial profile of Polirom Publishing House includes not only fiction (Romanian and universal literature – 35%), but also nonfiction (65%). The 4000 titles published so far cover 45 editorial fields (literature, essay, journals, letters, philosophy, history, religion, psychology, sociology, politology, pedagogy, social assistance, gender studies, media, public relations, law, foreign languages, informatics, education, economy and business, medicine, health, practical knowledge, etc.) and more than 60 collections and series.

General director: Silviu Lupescu

Main office: Iaşi, 4 Carol I Boulevard, 4th floor, P.O. BOX 266. Tel.: 0232.214.100, 0232.214.111. Fax: 0232.214.111, office@polirom.ro
www.polirom.ro

”Thanks to Polirom, literature in Romania today is much more than just a row of books on a shelf or a salon pastime. Contemporary literature is alive, is read with interest, stirs public debate, and creates currents of feeling and opinion. What is certain is that in Romania it is no longer possible to write or read literature in the same way as fifteen years ago. Not only the more intense rhythm of life but also a vital connection to the realities of the day oblige contemporary writers to problematise the world around them, from the political baggage of their personal memory to the miracles of everyday life, from sub‑humanity to postmodernism. More recently, it has also been literature that has succeeded in imprinting an image of Romania’s identity abroad. The national and international prizes won by Romanian authors, the numerous book fairs at which Polirom has taken part (Frankfurt, Leipzig, Lille, Zurich, Basle, Berne), and also numerous publications abroad, whether already in print or in press, have confirmed not only individual authors but also an entire literary wave.” (Doris Mironescu)

”Besides this appealing diversity, the indisputable worth of the writers included in Polirom’s catalogues ought to make us confident, even optimistic, as to the response our literature deserves to produce abroad, a literature which for far too long was written exclusively by poets and critics, and was thus inevitably relegated to a minor status, that of a restricted, local, mimetic phenomenon. It is something well known, something always repeated as a wearisome reproach, that since the beginnings of our timid synchronisation with the West, prose (or the novel, to be more precise) has been our sole chance, the only form of expression whereby we have been capable of stirring the interest of foreign audiences in lands with high cultural pedigrees. And whereas in the past we have diligently imitated, so as to keep in step and not embarrass ourselves, today we are exporting our own literary products of the finest quality.” (Antonio Patraş)