Harta Literară (The Literary Map), a project highlighting real-world places featured in fiction works, will launch in Brașov on June 26, during an event dedicated to the relationship between literature, memory, and urban space.

The launch event will bring together authors Simona Popescu and Caius Dobrescu, both members of the Brașov Group, alongside Adrian Lăcătuș and writer Florin Dumitrescu, also known as Textier. Members of the Literary Map team will also be present to answer questions about the project's origins and future development.

"We are delighted that Brașov is the second city to be added to the Literary Map, marking the first step toward national expansion. We would love for people heading to the mountains for skiing or hiking to know that writers such as Simona Popescu, Alexandru Mușina, Ioana Pârvulescu, Rodica Bretin, Andrei Dósa, Mihail Vakulovski, and Maria Orban have written about these places. We would like people to know that the first Romanian school was established here, and even that the country's national anthem was written in Brașov. In the not-too-distant future, we hope these connections between literature and the places where we live and travel will cover the entire map of Romania," Cristina Foarfă, the project's initiator and coordinator, explained.

The Brașov program includes on June 27 a literature-themed walking tour led by author Simona Popescu and dedicated to the Brașov Group. Participants will explore the city center while tracing the footsteps of key figures in contemporary Romanian literature, among them Andrei Bodiu, Marius Oprea, Caius Dobrescu, and Simona Popescu, alongside their literary mentors, Alexandru Mușina and Gheorghe Crăciun.

Bucharest, the first city featured on the Literary Map platform, currently includes more than 500 documented locations and nearly 1,000 connections to literary works and significant moments in the history of Romanian literature. Brașov, together with Sinaia, Predeal, Codlea, and Bușteni, is approaching 200 connections to both classic and contemporary literary works.

The Literary Map is a digital platform mapping places that appear in books, sites of literary significance, and key landmarks in literary history. In its first year of development, the platform attracted more than 15,000 active users and brought together over 400 participants at its events.  

(Illustration: a guided tour by Harta Literară; photo by Alex Mares, courtesy of the organizers)

simona@romania-insider.com