Leonard Oprea

File:Author Leonard Oprea.jpg

Leonard Oprea Washington DC 2000

Leonard Oprea (born December 1953) is a contemporary Romanian and American novelist, poet, haijin and essayist-creator of Breathings.

He was born in Prejmer, a village in Braşov County in the south-eastern part of Transylvania, central Romania. He studied at the University of Braşov, and in 1990 he specialized in mass-media communication at California State University, Chico. Since 1999 he has been living in the United States, currently in Auburn, Maine.

Life and career

Oprea was an anti-communist dissident in Romania during Nicolae Ceauşescu's dictatorship. He was born in Prejmer, a village in Braşov (Kronstadt) County in the south-eastern part of Transylvania, central Romania.

Between 1980 and 1987 he published a book and several short stories. In 1984, he published his first book, Domenii Interzise (Forbidden Areas), short stories and novellas, and some short stories.

After 1987, the Securitate (the Secret Police of the Communist regime), officially forbade the publication of his writings.

After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, he lived in Bucharest and resumed writing. He founded the Romanian publishing house Athena, the Vladimir Colin Romanian Cultural Foundation as well as the Vladimir Colin international awards.

His publishing house has published three bilingual (English-Romanian translations by Professor Bogdan Stefanescu, from Bucharest University, Romania) editions; works the poet Nichita Stănescu; essays by the philosopher Constantin Noica and by Mircea Eliade.

He graduated from the University of Braşov, and specialized in mass-media communication at the University of California at Chico in 1990.

Between 2003 and 2007, Oprea published social and philosophical essays, short stories, and his Breathings (see “Books originally in Romanian”) in the American-Romanian social and cultural magazines from New York and Portland, Oregon - New York Magazin and Romanian Times, USA.

Between 2005 and 2007 he published cultural and philosophical essays, and short stories in the Canadian-Romanian cultural magazine Atheneum from Vancouver, Canada.

Since 1999 he has been living in the USA, currently in Auburn, Maine, and previously in Boston, Massachusetts.

Works

Books originally in Romanian

• Domenii interzise (Forbidden areas), short stories and novellas; Albatros Publishing House, 1984; (from this book, the novella “Colonia” took the Great Romanian National Prize of Romanian Science-Fiction Convention, Iasi, Romania, 1981).

• Radiografia clipei (The x-ray of an instant), short stories and novellas banned in Communist Romania in 1987; Editura Dacia, 1990, Romania; the second edition with critical references, Curtea Veche Publishing House, 2003, Romania.

• Cămaşa de forţă (The Straitjacket), novel banned in Communist Romania 1988; Editura Nemira, 1992; second edition; foreword by Liviu Antonesei and critical references, Curtea Veche Publishing House, 2004; foreword by Gelu Vlasin; electronic book by “LiterNet” www.liternet.ro/, 2005, Romania.

• Theophil Magus - Confesiuni 2004-2006 (Theophil Magus - Confessions 2004-2006), American and Romanian essays; with a foreword by Vladimir Tismăneanu; Universal Dalsi Publishing House, 2007.(In this book Leonard Oprea created the Breathing, an original type of essay in Romanian and world literature. The Breathing is a short, simple yet profound meditation on human condition, a meditation ended by a haiku. But---this haiku does not finish the meditation. In fact, it reopens this reflection to new questions and responses on human destiny. There are 100 Breathings in Leonard Oprea's work "Theophil Magus--Confessions 2004-2006").

• The TRILOGY of THEOPHIL MAGUS:
• Cele Nouă Invăţături ale lui Theophil Magus despre Magia Transilvană (The Nine Teachings of Theophil Magus on Transylvanian Magic), Polirom Publishing House - 2000, Romania; electronic book by “LiterNet” www.liternet.ro/, 2003, Romania.

• The Book Of Theophil Magus Or 40 Tales About Man (Cartea lui Theophil Magus sau 40 de Poveşti despre Om), with a foreword by Liviu Antonesei; Polirom Publishing House - 2001, Romania. Paperback English version (translated from Romanian by Bogdan Stefanescu); foreword by Vladimir Tismăneanu; published in the United States by Ingram Book Group, 2003; new edition at AuthorHouse, 2004. ISBN 1-4107-5278-X (Trade Paperback);electronic book by “LiterNet” www.liternet.ro/, 2004, Romania.

• Meditaţiile lui Theophil Magus sau Simple Cugetări Creştine la Începutul Mileniului III (The Meditations of Theophil Magus or Simple Christian Thoughts at the Beginning of the Third Millennium) - Polirom Publishing House - 2002, Romania; electronic book by “LiterNet” www.liternet.ro/, 2004, Romania.

• Ghilotina de Scrum (the Guillotine of Ashes) (Conversations with the American philosopher Vladimir Tismaneanu); edited by West Publishing House, 1992; and Polirom Publishing House, 2002, Romania.

Books originally in English

• Theophil Magus in Baton Rouge – a haiku novel (“Xlibris”/Random House Ventures, 2007, USA /Library of Congress Control Number: 2007909824/ ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-4363-0966-0/Softcover 978-1-4363-0965-3)

• Trilogy of Theophil Magus – the Truth (“Xlibris”/Random House Ventures, 2008, USA /Library of Congress Control Number: 2008901520/ ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-4363-2366-6/Softcover 978-1-4363-2365-9)

• Theophil Magus living in Boston - Anna-Maria 101 breathings (“Xlibris”/Random House Ventures, 2011, USA /Library of Congress Control Number: 2011910709/ ISBN: Hardcover 1-4628-9476-3 & 978-1-4628-9476-5/Softcover 1-4628-9475-5 & 978-1-4628-9475-8/ebook 1-4628-9477-1 & 978-1-4628-9476-5)

• The Daily Agony of Theophil Magus - Jazz & Blues Haiku Novel for Anna-Maria (“Xlibris”/Random House Ventures, 2012, USA /Library of Congress Control Number: 2012908901/ ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-4771-1431-5 /Softcover 978-1-4771-1430-8/ebook 978-1-4771-1432-2)

• Time after Time (International Anthology of Poetry, edited by The International Library of Poetry & Library of Congress, 2000, USA)