Leonard Oprea

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Leonard Oprea Washington DC 2000

Leonard Oprea (born December 1953) is a contemporary Romanian writer.

He was born in Prejmer, a village in Braşov County in the eastern part of Transylvania, central Romania. He made his studies at the University of Braşov, Romania, and in 1990 he specialized in mass-media communication at the University of California at Chico. Since 1999 he has been living in the USA, currently in Boston, Massachusetts.

1 Activity
2 Works
3 Quotations about his work
4 External links

[edit] Activity

Leonard Oprea was an anti-communist dissident in Romania during Nicolae Ceauşescu's dictatorship. Between 1980 and 1987 he published one book and some short stories in the most important literary reviews. These were honored with many national literary prizes. After 1987 the Securitate, the secret police of the Communist regime, officially forbade the publication of his writings, considering them subversive.

After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, living in Bucharest, he became a well-known Romanian writer, journalist and editor. He was able to resume publishing his works: novels, short stories, tales and essays, meditations etc. He founded the Romanian Publishing House Athena, the Vladimir Colin Romanian Cultural Foundation as well as the Vladimir Colin international awards.

[edit] Works

Domenii interzise (Forbidden areas) - short stories and novellas; Albatros Publishing House - 1984, Romania.
Radiografia clipei (The x-ray of an instant) - short stories and novellas forbidden by the Romanian Communist dictatorship in 1987; Dacia Publishing House - 1990, Romania; the second edition with critical references at Curtea Veche Publishing - 2003, Romania.
Cămaşa de forţă (The Straitjacket) - novel forbidden by the Romanian Communist dictatorship in 1988; Nemira Publishing House - 1992, Romania; the second edition with critical references at Curtea Veche Publishing - 2004, Romania.
The Trilogy of Theophil Magus :
- Cele Nouă Invăţături ale lui Theophil Magus despre Magia Transilvană (The Nine Teachings of Theophil Magus on Transylvanian Magic) - Polirom Publishing House - 2000, Romania.
- The Book Of Theophil Magus Or 40 Tales About Man (Cartea lui Theophil Magus sau 40 de Poveşti despre Om) - Polirom Publishing House - 2001, Romania. English version, October 2003, edited in the USA by Ingram Book Group/ 1stBooks Library; new edition by AuthorHouse - 2004, USA.
- Meditaţiile lui Theophil Magus sau Simple Cugetări Creştine la Începutul Mileniului III (The Meditations of Theophil Magus or Simple Christian Thoughts at the Beginning of the Third Millennium) - Polirom Publishing House - 2002, Romania.

[edit] Quotations about his work

The Book of Theophil Magus or 40 Tales about Man is situated in the strange no man’s land where everyday life becomes truly magical. I consider these writings as splendid expressions of a unique vision of our fragmented but marvelously exciting world. Leonard Oprea’s style combines a discovery of hidden meanings of words with a fabulous sense of secret humor. His works received the highest praises from the most influential critics, who rightly compared his vision to works by Thomas Mann, Borges or Paulo Coelho. (Vladimir Tismăneanu – philosopher, author, essayist and editor; backcover of The Book of Theophil Magus or 40 Tales about Man, AuthorHouse - 2004, USA)

In The Book of Theophil Magus a great variety of sacred and profane themes, archaic, mythical, contemporary (Moses, Gandhi, Christmas, children, journalism, pilgrimage etc.) serves as vivid stimulation for this literary adventure, written with humor, knowledge and wit… in an inviting dialogue with the reader. (Norman Manea – author and essayist; backcover of The Book of Theophil Magus or 40 Tales about Man, AuthorHouse - 2004, USA)

Leonard Oprea’s 40 Tales about Man range from the depiction of the everyday to the mythological and Borgesian to the religious. Honored with numbers of prizes in his native Romania, this writer is a true iconoclast and a true talent. (Adam Sorkin – author, essayist and editor; backcover of The Book of Theophil Magus or 40 Tales about Man, AuthorHouse - 2004, USA)

In Romania, Leonard Oprea is a distinguished writer. His fiction and non-fiction work was censored during the Communist dictatorship. In my opinion, here in the USA, Leonard Oprea could make a genuine contribution to our current writing landscape. (Andrei Codrescu - poet, author, NPR commentator, essayist; from amazon.com review of The Book of Theophil Magus or 40 Tales about Man, AuthorHouse - 2004, USA)