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Leonard Oprea, born December 1953 in Romania is a contemporary Romanian-American novelist, poet, and essayist.

Life and career

He was born in Prejmer, a village in Braşov County in the south-eastern part of Transylvania, central Romania. He studied at the Transylvania University of Braşov and in 1990 he specialized in mass media communication at California State University, Chico. Since 1999 he has been living in the United States.

Oprea was a writer who was an anti-communist dissident,, in Romania during Nicolae Ceauşescu's dictatorship.

In 1980 he started publishing science fiction and other stories in a number of literary magazines. His works were awarded a number of prizes. In 1981 he received the Romanian National Prize “Romcon” for the fantasy-dystopia novella "Colonia" ("The Colony"), which was later also included in his first book, “Domenii Interzise” (Forbidden areas), 1984, “Albatros” Publishing House, Bucharest, Romania . He also wrote short stories and novellas, and was praised in Romanian literary reviews.

, .  In 1987 he participated in street protests in the city of Brașov, an activity  for which he was banned by the Securitate  from publishing until the fall of Nicolae Ceausescu's regime in December 1989. 

After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, he lived in Bucharest and resumed writing and became a journalist and editor. The banned books, "Radiografia Clipei" (The x-ray of an instant) and "Cămaşa de forţă" (The Straitjacket) were eventually published after the revolution in two editions each (see "Works" below). He founded the Romanian publishing house Athena, the Vladimir Colin Romanian Cultural Foundation, as well as the Vladimir Colin international awards. At the Vladimir Colin Romanian Cultural Foundation, Oprea organized national and international conferences, seminars and literary workshops in collaboration with various bodies such as the University of Bucharest, national publishing houses and national newspapers.

Among his activities at the Athena publishing house Oprea published three bilingual (English-Romanian) editions under the translation of Bogdan Stefanescu of the University of Bucharest, including works of the poet Nichita Stănescu, and essays by the philosopher Constantin Noica and by Mircea Eliade .

Between 2003 and 2007, Oprea published social and philosophical essays, short stories, and his Breathings in the American-Romanian social and cultural magazines from New York and Portland, Oregon - New York Magazin and Romanian Times, USA.

Between 2005 and 2007 he published cultural and philosophical essays, and short stories in the Canadian-Romanian cultural magazine Atheneum from Vancouver, Canada.

Since 1999 he has been living in the USA, previously in Boston, Massachusetts and currently in Auburn, Maine, where he is involved in community activities and teaching.

Works

Books originally in Romanian

• Domenii interzise (Forbidden areas), short stories and novellas; Albatros Publishing House, 1984;

• Radiografia clipei (The x-ray of an instant), short stories and novellas, Editura Dacia, 1990, Romania; the second edition with critical references, Curtea Veche Publishing House, 2003, Romania.

• Cămaşa de forţă (The Straitjacket), novel; Editura Nemira, 1992; second edition; foreword by Liviu Antonesei and critical references, "Curtea Veche" Publishing House, 2004; foreword by Gelu Vlasin; electronic book by "Editura LiterNet" (LiterNet Publishing House), 2005, Romania.

• Ghilotina de Scrum (the Guillotine of Ashes) (Conversations with the American philosopher Vladimir Tismaneanu); edited by West Publishing House, 1992; and Polirom Publishing House, 2002, Romania.

The Theofil Magus Series

This series of books was started in 2000 and includes books originally written in Romanian and then translated into English, as well as books originally written in English.

• 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; electronic book by "Editura LiterNet" (LiterNet Publishing House), 2003, Romania.

• The Book Of Theophil Magus Or 40 Tales About Man (Cartea lui Theophil Magus sau 40 de Poveşti despre Om), with a foreword by Liviu Antonesei; Polirom Publishing House - 2001, Romania. Paperback English version (translated from Romanian by Bogdan Stefanescu); foreword by Vladimir Tismăneanu; published in the United States by Ingram Book Group, 2003; new edition at AuthorHouse, 2004. ISBN 1-4107-5278-X (Trade Paperback);electronic book "Editura LiterNet" (LiterNet Publishing House), 2004, Romania.

• 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; electronic book by "Editura LiterNet" (LiterNet Publishing House), 2004, Romania.
• Theophil Magus - Confesiuni 2004-2006 (Theophil Magus - Confessions 2004-2006), American and Romanian essays; with a foreword by Vladimir Tismăneanu; Universal Dalsi Publishing House, 2007.

Books originally in English

• Theophil Magus in Baton Rouge – a haiku novel (“Xlibris”/Random House Ventures, 2007, USA /Library of Congress Control Number: 2007909824/ ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-4363-0966-0/Softcover 978-1-4363-0965-3)

• Trilogy of Theophil Magus – the Truth (“Xlibris”/Random House Ventures, 2008, USA /Library of Congress Control Number: 2008901520/ ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-4363-2366-6/Softcover 978-1-4363-2365-9)

• Theophil Magus living in Boston - Anna-Maria 101 breathings (“Xlibris”/Random House Ventures, 2011, USA /Library of Congress Control Number: 2011910709/ ISBN: Hardcover 1-4628-9476-3 & 978-1-4628-9476-5/Softcover 1-4628-9475-5 & 978-1-4628-9475-8/ebook 1-4628-9477-1 & 978-1-4628-9476-5)

• The Daily Agony of Theophil Magus - Jazz & Blues Haiku Novel for Anna-Maria (“Xlibris”/Random House Ventures, 2012, USA /Library of Congress Control Number: 2012908901/ ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-4771-1431-5 /Softcover 978-1-4771-1430-8/ebook 978-1-4771-1432-2)

Notes

1. , in Romanian
2. (note: This article, titled "O voce autentic diferită" (A Genuinely Different Voice)], is an editorial published on January 8-9, 2005 in the newspaper Jurnalul National (The National Newspaper) by Vladimir Tismaneanu. A relevant quote from this article says as follows.(The Romanian version is followed by translation)"In aceste randuri, ca ilustrare a acestei unitati dintre etic si estetic, ma voi referi la opera prozatorului Leonard Oprea, participant la revolta anticomunista de la Brasov din noiembrie 1987, scriitor remarcabil, marginalizat si persecutat datorita pozitiei sale extrem de critica in raport cu dictatura totalitara. Scrierile lui Leonard Oprea, subversive deopotriva prin ideile, dar si prin stilul lor, au fost privite de cerberii ideologici drept ceea ce erau: un indemn la rezistenta si o expresie a refuzului de a pactiza cu sistemul. In momentul conceperii lor, aceste carti erau transcrieri in registru funebru ale unei realitati politice tragice. Ospiciul inlocuise ratiunea, iar viata se exilase intre interstitiile unei pure mecanicitati..." Translation: "In these lines, as an illustration of the unity between the ethical and the estethical, I will refer to the body of work of the prose-writer Leonard Oprea, a participant in the anti-Communist uprising in Brasov in November 1987, a remarkable writer, marginalized and persecuted because of his criticism in relation to the totalitarian dictatorship. The writings of Leonard Oprea---subversive, both in their content and their style---were looked upon by the ideological guardians (of the regime, i.e.,the Securitate--translator's note) for what they indeed were: a call to resistance and an expression of his refusal to be at peace with the system. The asylum has replaced logic and life has become exiled into the intersection points of something purely mechanical..."
3. http://revistanautilus.ro/dictionar-sf/oprea-leonard-constantin-n-1953/. (Note: The cited text, from "Revista Nautilus" Namira Publishing House (a magazine dedicated to science fiction stories and reviews) (07.07.10) by Aurel Carasel lists the prizes (translation follows): "trei premii...la Consfătuirile Naţionale din 1979, 1980 şi 1981 pentru proză Fantasy... două premii pentru proză main-stream (concursul naţional de proză iniţiat de rev. “Viaţa Românească”/1984 şi concursul naţional de proză “Centenarul Liviu Rebreanu”/1985)."(three prizes...at the National Conventions in 1979, 1980 and 1981 for Science Fiction, two prizes for mainstream prose in the National (Romanian) Prose Competition organized by the magazine "Viaţa Românească" (Romanian Life)/1984 and the National Prose Competition "Liviu Rebreanu Centenary"/1985)".
5. "Romania Literara" (Literary Romania - a weekly magazine on Romanian cultural issues published by "Fundatia Literara Românǎ" (the Romanian Literary Foundation))(ISSN 1584-9465)#37, 2004 (in Romanian) (The following quote is of note: " În anul 1999 scriitorul a emigrat în Statele Unite şi, în mod paradoxal, acest act a coincis cu momentul impunerii sale decisive pe piaţa literară românească. Apariţia Trilogiei lui Theophil Magus (Polirom 2000-2002) şi republicarea cărţilor scrise înainte de 1989, Radiografia clipei (Curtea Veche, 2003), Cămaşa de forţă (Curtea Veche, 2004), evenimente amplu comentate de personalităţi al căror cuvînt contează în viaţa culturală românească (Mircea Mihăieş, Vladimir Tismăneanu, Sorin Antohi, Liviu Antonesei, Norman Manea etc.), au făcut ca Leonard Oprea să-şi ocupe locul pe care îl merită în tabloul literaturii române actuale." (In 1999 the writer (i.e. Oprea) immigrated to the US and, paradoxically, this act has coincided with the moment at which he became a decisively imposing figure in the Romanian literary field. The publication of the Trilogy of Theofil Magus Trilogy (Polirom 2000--2002), and the re-publication of the books written prior to 1989, "The x-ray of a moment" (Curtea Veche 2003), The Straitjacket, events amply commented on by personalities whose word counts in the Romanian cultural life (Mircea Mihăieş, Vladimir Tismăneanu, Sorin Antohi, Liviu Antonesei, Norman Manea etc.), have given Leonard Oprea the place he rightly deserves within the frame of current Romanian literature)
6. Gelu Vlasin wrote about (The straitjacket). A relevant quote from this article: "O adevărată revelaţie te încearcă atunci când, anesteziat în conformismul unor lecturi constant agasante prin conţinutul agresivist şi vădit comercial, descoperi un altfel de univers, o altfel de lume, îndepărtată prin situare temporală, bizară şi terifiantă prin manifestare şi totuşi atât de actuală încât ai sentimentul identificării personajelor în real. Acest sentiment l-am avut lecturând o carte incitantă prin titlu dar de-a dreptul impresionantă prin conţinut: Cămaşa de forţă, purtând semnătura scriitorului Leonard Oprea." ("One feels a real sense of revelation when, numbed by the conformism of some reading material that is annoyingly aggressive and blatantly commercially oriented, one discovers a different universe, a different world, which, despite being far away from us in time, bizarre and terrifying, is nevertheless so real that one feels a sense of identification with the characters in the real world. This is the sentiment I felt while reading a book that has an inciting title and impressive content, The Straitjacket, signed by the writer Leonard Oprea.").
7. see note in ref.
11. [http://www.atheneum.ca/search/node/leonard%20oprea
17. Tismăneanu, Vladimir "Leonard Oprea si ranile morale ale postcomunismului" (Leonard Oprea and the Moral Wounds of the Post-communism), Evenimentul Zilei, August 8, 2007.
18. Romanian Times. , Culture, August, 2008. by Leonard Oprea

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• Romanian novelists
• Romanian essayists
• Romanian dissidents
• People from Braşov County
• Living people
• 1953 births