{"title":"Ana Blandiana","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAna Blandiana\u003c\/strong\u003e offers a profound exploration of the human spirit through her introspective and evocative writing. Her works, such as \u003cem\u003eFive Books\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Shadow of Words\u003c\/em\u003e, delve into themes of memory, history, and identity, inviting readers into a rich tapestry of poetic and reflective narratives.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRooted in the \u003cem\u003eArts \u0026amp; Culture\u003c\/em\u003e tradition, Blandiana’s writing captures the delicate interplay between personal experience and broader cultural currents, making her books an essential journey for those drawn to thoughtful and lyrical literature.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"five-books-by-ana-blandiana-9781780375380","title":"Five Books","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThis new translation combines five of Ana Blandiana's previous collections, three of protest poems from the 1980s followed by her two collections of love poetry.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs one of Romania's foremost poets, and a leading dissident before the fall of Communism, Ana Blandiana's poetry has become symbolic of an ethical consciousness that refuses to be silenced by totalitarian governments.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe poems of \u003cem\u003ePredator Star\u003c\/em\u003e (1985) and \u003cem\u003eThe Architecture of Waves\u003c\/em\u003e (1990) chronicle a convulsed history and pose the question of how to resist the terror of history. \u003cem\u003eClock without Hours\u003c\/em\u003e (2014) marks a return to rhyme, as Blandiana attempts a courageous renovation of traditional verse forms. Her fiercely militant voice that helped inaugurate the postmodern idiom in Romanian poetry in 1984 has modulated over time into a new tone of forgiveness and renunciation, expressed in meditations on the fragility and vulnerability of being.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eShe has also written two collections of love poems which rank among the most beautiful in contemporary Romanian poetry: \u003cem\u003eOctober, November, December\u003c\/em\u003e (1972) and \u003cem\u003eVariations on a Given Theme\u003c\/em\u003e (2018). The second of these was composed after the death of her husband, Romulus Rusan, in 2016.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA prolific and expansive poet, Ana Blandiana constantly re-invents herself. Her work ultimately reflects on universal issues, on human existence itself in our 21st-century consumer society.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47455562891500,"sku":"9781780375380","price":64.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/71ClFt7MBtL._SL1500.jpg?v=1774783341"},{"product_id":"the-shadow-of-words-by-ana-blandiana-9781780375403","title":"The Shadow of Words","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAna Blandiana is one of Romania's foremost poets, a leading dissident before the fall of Communism, and now one of her country's strongest candidates for the Nobel Prize. A prominent opponent of the Ceaușescu regime, Blandiana became known for her daring, outspoken poems as well as for her courageous defence of ethical values. Over the years, her works have become the symbol of a moral consciousness that refuses to be silenced by a totalitarian government.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Shadow of Words\u003c\/em\u003e covers Blandiana's early collections published from 1964 to 1981, as well as including uncollected poems from that period which only appeared in anthologies. It follows \u003cem\u003eMy Native Land A4\u003c\/em\u003e (2014), \u003cem\u003eThe Sun of Hereafter Ebb of the Senses\u003c\/em\u003e (2017) and \u003cem\u003eFive Books\u003c\/em\u003e (2021) in completing Bloodaxe's presentation of Blandiana's collected poems to date in English translation. She published these poems during the brief period of political thaw of Romania's communist regime, when aestheticism took on a more subversive role, reaffirming the autonomy of the poetic word and freeing it from the stultifying demands of propagandist proletarian art.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn her early poems, Blandiana's voice articulates a pure and vibrant spiritual language of unmistakable ethical clarity, calling for moral regeneration in the face of indifference. Their ethical idealism and steadfastness override the many masks of degradation. These youthful books announce from the outset the sense of responsibility and faith in the survival of the collective soul that has always characterised Blandiana's poetry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47464642478316,"sku":"9781780375403","price":46.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781780375403-the-shadow-of-words.jpg?v=1775050577"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/ana-blandiana.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}