Ana Blandiana

Ana Blandiana (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈana blandiˈana]; pen name of Otilia Valeria Coman; b. 25 March 1942, Timişoara) is a Romanian poet, essayist, and political figure. She took her name after Blandiana, near Vințu de Jos, Alba County, her mother's home village.

Coman's parents were Gheorghe (1915-1964), a priest who spent years in Communist prisons and died in an accident weeks after his release in a general amnesty, and Otilia (Diacu), an accountant. Her sister Geta was born in 1947. In 1960 she married the writer Romulus Rusan.

After her debut in 1959, in Tribuna, Cluj, where she signed for the first time as Ana Blandiana, she was published in the anthology 30 de poeți tineri ("30 Young Poets"). In 1963, after a four-year interdiction due to her father's status, she again published in Contemporanul (edited by George Ivașcu).

Her editorial debut took place in 1964 with the booklet of poems Persoana întâia plural ("First Person Plural"), with a Foreword written by Nicolae Manolescu. She became known for her Calcâiul vulnerabil ("Achilles' Heel", 1966) and A treia taină ("The Third Secret", 1969). In 1966, Blandiana appeared for the first time at the International Poem Contest (in Lahti, Finland).

In 1967, she settled in Bucharest; until the following year, she was one of the editors for Viața studențească, and then (until 1975) worked as editor for Amfiteatru. She gave two televised readings in 1969, in the company of Andrei Șerban and the actors Irina Petrescu, Mariana Mihuț and Florian Pittiş.

Between 1975 and 1977, she was a librarian at the Institute of Fine Arts in Bucharest. In 1976, her works were first printed in a French translation, in Croisière du Club des Poètes by (Paris); in 1978, she took part in the First International Festival of Poetry in Paris organized by the famed Club des Poètes.

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