PACT

Written by Ioan Nistor

Translated from the Romanian by Olimpia Iacob

Narrated by Bill Wolak

Romania

Let him, who has a tongue, speak out,

give him a medal,

                   a thorn

                   a priceless hazel . . .

Then let your shout reach the sky,

O! As long as you are alive, write!

Write as long as you still can do it

for the darkness of fear will smolder in all of us . . .

The price is high, the gain is low.

Blood was shed for freedom

Alas!

Never give it away,

never!

loan Nistor is a poet, journalist, and former teacher of Romanian language and literature. He was born in the village of Prilog. He studied philology. His debut volume, In the Shade of Hypothysis, was published in 1989. Further collections of poetry were issued by various Romanian publishing houses: The Ladder Among The Words (1998); Malign Elegies, A Journal of An Unwritten Poem (2000), The Asphalt Flower  (2001); The Vertebrae of the Cry (2003) Metamorphoses (2007); The Optic Nerve (2010); The Ashes of Silence (2011); Atlantises of the Air  (2012); Stones of Lightning (2016);  and Nearby  (2018). Many of his poems have been translated into English, French, Italian, German, Arabian, and Serbian. He is a member of the Writers’ Union of Romania, Cluj-Napoca branch.

Olimpia Iacob  graduated from the Faculty of Letters of the “Al. I. Cuza” University from which she earned a Ph.D. in 2000 with a dissertation entitled Translation Theory Applied to the Poetry of Nichita Stanescu.  Her book-length translations include works in poetry by Cassian Maria Spiridon (translated with Jim Kacian), Gabriel Stanescu, Mircea Petean (translated with Bill Wolak) Daniel Corbu (translated with Jim Kacian) Marius Chelaru (translated with Gabriel Rosenstock), George Vulturescu (translated with Adam J. Sorkin). She is a member of the Writers’ Union of Romania.