Eliade after Eliade

One of the greatest names of Romanian culture and a seminal historian of religions, Mircea Eliade is this year’s focus of the Romanian programme at the London Book Fair. Original and encyclopaedic, regarded as a Renaissance-like character in the range of his scientific and artistic ambitions, the great writer was one of the most influential academics and literary figures in interwar Romania before becoming the revered international scholar and mentor. To mark the English publication of Eliade’s first novel, ‘Diary of a Short-Sighted Adolescent’ by Istros Books, Professors Sorin Alexandrescu, Florin Țurcanu and Bryan Rennie together with translator Christopher Moncrieff and editor Susan Curtis-Kojakovic meditate on the cultural legacy and contemporary relevance of the legendary author.

The discussion will be accompanied by an exhibition dedicated to the life and work of Mircea Eliade, entitled ‘Eliade in 1 Belgrave Square’. Set up in the RCI Gallery, the exhibition follows, through a collage of old photographs, books, manuscripts and emblematic excerpts, one of the least known and most unsettling periods in Mircea Eliade’s life – his tenure as Cultural Attaché to the United Kingdom.

The event is part of the Romanian programme at the London Book Fair.