An excellent end of year for Romanian writer Dan Lungu (in picture), whose short story  - 7 pm Wife - has just been selected for the Best European Fiction 2013 collection published by Dalkey Archive Press, according to news agency Mediafax.

The short story is part of the Baieti de gasca (Troopers) volume published by Polirom in Romanian in 2005. The volume features loud and busy teenagers caught in funny and surprising situations as they live in today’s Romania or on more distant shores. A tinge of gravity is always added to this mix of sparky youthfulness.

American writer Aleksandar Hemon coordinated the 2013 edition of the Best European Fiction collection, which is prefaced by Ireland’s John Banville. This is the fourth volume that brings together la crème de la crème of European short fiction. The fictional depictions from 32 countries are included in this literary tour that takes readers to the worlds imagined by Borivoje Adasevic, Mirana Likar Bajzelj, Semezdin Mehmedinovic, Ray French, Miklos Vajda, Bernard Comment, Eloy Tizon, Marie Redonnet, Zehra Cirak, Tomás Mac Síomóin.

Dan Lungu was born in 1969, in Botosani, and he is one of the most successful Romanian writers of the new generation, with works translated in French, German, Italian  Spanish, Polish, Slovenian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Greek and Turkish. He is best known to the Romanian public as author of the short novel Sunt o baba comunista (I’m a Communist hag) (publisher Polirom, 2007), a humorous rendition of a country girl’s rags to riches story against the Romanian Communist background. Last year, Lungu was awarded the Arts and Letters Knighthood by the French state for his contributions to the enrichment of the French cultural heritage. The Baieti de gasca (Troopers) volume has been translated and published by Austrian publisher Drava and Greek publisher Antonios Stamoulis is working to include it in its editorial plan.

Ioana Jelea, ioana.jelea@romania-insider.com

photo source: Dan Lungu on Facebook