The Iași International Literature and Translation Festival (FILIT) returns this October, when the public will have the opportunity to meet leading names from the Romanian and international literary and cultural scene.

Among the authors who will be present in Iași are Paul Lynch, the winner of the 2023 Booker Prize for the novel Prophet Song, which has received numerous other international awards and has been translated into more than 35 languages, and French novelist and playwright David Foenkinos, known for his best-selling novels, which have been translated into around 40 languages.

The festival will also welcome Parinoush Saniee, the author of The Book of Fate, which was banned twice in Iran before becoming an international bestseller translated into more than 26 languages and receiving numerous awards. Also attending will be Aleksandar Hemon, the Bosnian-American writer whose numerous accolades include major international literary prizes. He is the author of the novels The Lazarus Project and The Nowhere Man, and co-wrote The Matrix Resurrections, the fourth film in the sci-fi franchise.

Other authors announced by the Iași festival include: Elena Alexieva (Bulgaria), Éric Chacour (Canada), Yavuz Ekinci (Turkey), Milena Michiko Flašar (Austria), Ramon Gener (Spain), Dinçer Güçyeter (Germany), Hallgrímur Helgason (Iceland), Roskva Koritzinsky (Norway), Alexandre Lenot (France), Andriy Lyubka (Ukraine), Laura Pariani (Italy), Anna Sólyom (Hungary), Marek Torčík (Czech Republic), Hattie Williams (United Kingdom), and Gabriella Zalapì (Switzerland).

The Romanian writers taking part in this year’s edition include Gabriela Adameșteanu, Simona Antonescu, Andreea Berechet, Iulian Bocai, Lavinia Braniște, Geanina Cărbunariu, Gilbert Costache, Gelu Duminică, Filip Florian, Delia Grigore, Florin Irimia, Ilinca Mănescu, Mircea Mihăieș, Alex Moldovan, Ana-Maria Negrilă, Ioana Pârvulescu, Florin Pitea, Radu Paraschivescu, Andreea Sterea, Adriana Ștefan, Daniel Timariu, Ioana Unk, Cristian Vicol, and Vlad Zografi.

Poets Andrei Dósa, Silvia Goteanschii, Emanuel Guralivu, Emanuela Ignăţoiu-Sora, Vasile Leac, Ciprian Măceșaru, Andrei Novac, Sorina Rîndașu, Codruța Simina, and Moni Stănilă will also meet audiences at events throughout October.

FILIT 2026 will also bring together translators who make it possible for Romanian authors to reach bookstores and publishing markets abroad. They include Iulia Badea-Guéritée (France), Alexandru Bulucz (Germany), Jan Cornelius (Germany), Anna Kaźmierczak (Poland), Eva Kenderessy (Slovakia), Joanna Kornaś-Warwas (Poland), Borja Mozo Martín (Spain), Marian Ochoa de Eribe (Spain), Charlotte van Rooden (the Netherlands), Andreea Scridon (Romania/US), and Imre Szőcs (Romania).

This year’s FILIT takes place from October 21 to October 25. The full list of guests, which will include other writers, cultural managers, publishers, journalists, and artists, will be announced at a later date.

(Photo: FILIT Facebook Page)

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