THE DOOR THAT SEPARATES
Written by Cassian Maria Spiridon
Translated from the Romanian by Olimpia Iacob
Narrated by Bill Wolak
Romania
So bright is the season
when every tree is in bloom
but so melancholic it looks
when leaves
in humus search for shelter
so cheerful it is for you
to be born in the morning
and in gallop to start for life
to meet love
and sorrow
that await us
on the way we go
between the door
that opens to the light
and the door that separates
the soul
from the tired garment
Cassian Maria Spiridon graduated from the Faculty of Mechanics of the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest. He founded the new series of Timpul Review as well as Timpul Publishing House which he has operated since 1995. He also founded Poezia, a poetic-cultural magazine. Since 1995, he has been the director of Convorbiri Literare. He is a member of the Writers’ Union of Romania, of the Society of Romanian Journalists, and of the Association of Romanian Journalists, and a member of The European PEN-Club.
He has published over 50 volumes of poetry, criticism, and essays. He has been invited to poetry national and international festivals such as the International Poetry Festival of Medellin, Columbia; The Month of Romanian Culture of Marseille, France; The Meeting of the Poets of the Latin World, Mexico; The International Poetry Festival of Havana, Cuba; the Mediteranian Poetrz Festivale Voix Vivre, Sete, France; and the 3th Edition of Tianshui, China. He has been awarded many prizes and distinctions, and his poetry has been translated into more than 20 languages and published in various anthologies at home and abroad.
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.