An American teacher on a sabbatical in Bucharest to write his first novel

Kirk McDavitt had been craving for a sabbatical for many years. He was tired of teaching others how to write and be creative. He wanted to do it himself. When his wife got a job in Bucharest, they agreed on this: Kirk would finally get his sabbatical in Romania’s capital.

The waiter, a young boy with a hipsterish look, presents the coffee options to one of his customers. “Sorry for my English, I learned it from Cartoon Network,” he adds. The customer replies: “Sorry for the six words that I know in Romanian.” His name is Kirk McDavitt, a Detroit-born musician and writer, who spent the last ten years teaching. Before that, he worked as a firefighter, paramedic, baker and had some other jobs. Unlike many foreigners who move to Bucharest for a job, Kirk came here to go away from his job. He took a sabbatical to pursue his dream of making a living from writing and creating music. When we met in a coffee place in Bucharest in late October, Kirk was several months into his sabbatical. “Basically I’ve gone into the cocoon,” he says.