Ioan T. Morar

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Ioan T. Morar (b. April 13, 1956) is a Romanian journalist, poet, dramatist, novelist, literary and art critic, and civil society activist. He is a founding member of the satirical magazine Academia Caţavencu (to which he notably contributes art and culture reviews) and, since 2004, a senior editor for Cotidianul. An amateur actor in his youth, he was also a member of the comedy troupe Divertis from the mid-1980s to 1996.^[1]^[2]

1 Biography
2 Works
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Born in Şeitin, Arad County, Morar graduated as a valedictorian from the University of Timişoara's Faculty of Philology (Romanian-French section) in 1981.^[2] During the period, he became active in student theater groups — his troupe's performance in the 1981 adaptation of Vasile Alecsandri's comedy Sânziana şi Pepelea won it first prize during a festival in Iaşi (the city were he also met with and joined Divertis).^[3]

Assigned to a teaching position in Lugoj,^[3] he sat on the editorial staff for the magazines Viaţa Studenţească and Amfiteatru after 1987.^[2] He also began writing his first works of drama and poetry, and joined the Writers' Union.^[1] Morar's works, translated into several languages, won him the Writers' Union debut prize (1984, for Vara indiană) and its poetry prize (2000, for Şovăiala).^[1]^[2]

Following the 1989 Revolution, he became a member of the Civic Alliance,^[2] while contributing to the newspaper Cuvântul.^[2] In 1990, Morar was employed by the national television station's Entertainment section and created several shows, but resigned the following year.^[2]

He authored his debut novel Lidenfeld in 2006, to critical acclaim.^[2]^[1]^[4]^[3] Considered a "Postmodern novel",^[4] it was awarded the prize for prose works by the newspaper Ziarul de Iaşi.^[1]^[3]

Morar returned to work for national television in 2006, and began hosting his talk show Lumea citeşte! ("People Read!"), aired by TVR 1.^[2] During the same year, he was invited to take part in the final stage of TVR1's Mari Români campaign, a series which called on intellectuals to showcase the 10 greatest Romanians ever (who had been determined by a poll); Morar supported Domnitor Alexander John Cuza for the top position, and co-produced a short television film depicting the latter's merits.^[1] As part of a 2005-2006 television advertising campaign for Kandia chocolate bars, Morar impersonated the last ruler of Communist Romania, Nicolae Ceauşescu.^[5]^[6]