Petru Popescu

Petru Popescu (born February 1, 1944 in Bucharest, Romania) is a Romanian-American writer, director and film producer, author of best-selling novels Almost Adam and Amazon Beaming.

Romanian beginnings

The son of theater critic Radu Popescu and actress Nelly Cutava, he graduated from the Spiru Haret High School, after which he studied English language and literature at the University of Bucharest.[1][2] His debut was a collection of poems, Zeu printre blocuri ("A God Between Apartment Buildings"). In 1969, he published Prins ("Caught").

He went on a Herder scholarship to Vienna (1971–1972), and in 1973 participated in the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa.[3]

Emigration

After participating in that writing program, Popescu defected in 1973[4] or 1974 while in England on a private trip related to the English translation of his book Sfârșitul bahic,[1][5] taught comparative literature in Great Britain,[6] and moved to the United States in 1975, where he studied at the Center for Advanced Film Studies of the American Film Institute.[7][8] The Romanian government tried him for treason. In Romania his books were banned.[9]

At the time of his defection he was the Union of Communist Youth secretary of the Romanian Writers' Union and a candidate member of the Central Committee of the Union of Communist Youth.[10]

In the United States, he married Iris Friedman, with whom he has two children: Adam and Chloe.[11] His 2001 novel The Oasis is noted as "A memoir of love and survival in concentration camp" written in the first person as if in the words of the biographee, Blanka Friedman.

Sundance

Popescu received a letter from Robert Redford inviting him to submit a script for consideration for the Sundance Film Festival. In 1983, Popescu took Death of an Angel to Sundance, where the script came to near finalization. The festival enabled him to find backers for the film, which was released in 1986.[12][13]

Works

Novels written in Romanian
  • 1969 - Prins
  • 1970 - Dulce ca mierea e glonţul patriei
  • 1973 - Să creşti într-un an cât alţii într-o zi
  • 1973 - Sfârşitul bahic
  • 1974 - Copiii Domnului
  • 1993 - Înainte şi după Edith
  • 2002 - Întoarcerea
  • 2002 - Oaza
  • 2003 - În coasta lui Adam
  • 2008 - Urme în Timp
  • 2009 - Supleantul

Bibliography in English

[14]

  • 1973 - Bough
  • 1974 - Blues
  • 1975 - Burial of the vine
  • 1975 - Boxes, Stairs & Whistle Time
  • Popescu, Petru (1977). The Last Wave. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. ISBN 0-207-13591-6.
  • 1978 - Before and After Edith
  • Popescu, Petru (1989). In Hot Blood. New York: Fawcett Gold Medal. ISBN 0-449-14554-9.
  • Popescu, Petru (1991). Amazon Beaming. New York: Viking. ISBN 0-670-82997-8.
  • Popescu, Petru (1996). Almost Adam : a novel. New York: William Morrow. ISBN 0-688-14863-8.
  • Popescu, Petru (1997). The Return. New York: Grove Press. ISBN 0-8021-1613-2.
  • Popescu, Petru (2001). The Oasis: A Memoir of Love and Survival in a Concentration Camp. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-27869-1.
  • Popescu, Petru (2001). Weregirls: Birth of the Pack. New York: Tor Teen. ISBN 978-0-7653-1641-7.
  • 2008 - Weregirls: Through the Moon Glass
  • Popescu, Petru (2008). Footprints in Time. New York: Laura Geringer Books. ISBN 978-0-06-088400-0.
  • Popescu, Petru (2009). Girl Mary. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4165-3263-7.

Films

[15]

  • 1972 - Drum în penumbră - as producer
  • 1977 - The Last Wave (aka Black Rain in USA) - Ultimul val - as producer
  • 1982 - Friday the 13th Part III (1982) (uncredited) ... aka Friday the 13th Part 3 (USA: video title)
  • 1984 - Obsessive Love - (TV, story) - as writer
  • 1986 - Death of an Angel - Moartea unui înger - as director
  • 1988 - Emma: Queen of the South Seas TV mini-series - as writer
  • 1994 - Nobody's Children (TV)- as writer

References
  1. Giorgioni, Remus Valeriu; Buiciuc, Constantin (2000). "PETRU POPESCU - "Sînt multe momente cînd tresare în mine România şi nu încerc să le reprim"" (in Romanian). Romania literara. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  2. Sasu, Aurel (2006). Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române. Pitești: Paralela 45. pp. 410–411.
  3. "Petru POPESCU". iwp.uiowa.edu. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  4. Tuca, Marius (November 20, 2009). "Petru Popescu: "M-am despărțit de Zoia pentru că mi-era frică de Ceaușescu"" (in Romanian). jurnalul.ro. Archived from the original on August 10, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  5. "Petru Popescu: De ce am plecat din România, devenind transfug în 1974?" (in Romanian). jurnalul.ro. October 19, 2010. Archived from the original on August 10, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  6. Constantin, Dumitru (January 17, 2011). "În 1976, Petru Popescu declara româna o limbă folclorică și-l critică pe Soljenițîn" (in Romanian). Cotidianul. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  7. Kleiner, Dick (14 August 1984). "Romanian Director Finds Pleasure in American Life". Ocala Star-Banner.
  8. "DOCUMENTAR - Petru Popescu, un scriitor care crede că lipsa de țeluri este cea mai mare nefericire" (in Romanian). Agerpres. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  9. Petrakos, Chris (June 5, 1996). "Petru Popescu's 'Almost Adam' Is No Great Discovery". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  10. Nedelcovici, Bujor (2001). "Sîntem cu toţii inocenţi?" (in Romanian). Romania literara. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  11. Roseti, Roxana (October 11, 2009). "Bună ziua, domnule Petru Popescu, bună ziua, Beverly Hills!" (in Romanian). jurnalul.ro. Archived from the original on August 10, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  12. "Redford Helps Romanian Director". Toledo Blade. 19 August 1984.
  13. Thomas, Bob (21 July 1984). "Thanks to Robert Redford-Independent Filmmaker Gets Chance to Prove His Ability". Schenectady Gazette.
  14. ^ Google books: Petru Popescu https://books.google.com/books?as_auth=Petru+Popescu&source=an&ei=SVIbSp-tAdSCkQX61sX-DA&sa=X&oi=book_group&ct=title&cad=author-navigational&resnum=4
  15. IMDB: Petru Popescu
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