Later, he studied at the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Letters, Department of Romanian Language and Literature. He graduated in 1980 with a thesis that later became his book on poetry, more specifically The Chimaeric Dream. That same year, some of his works were published by Cartea Românească.
Between 1980 and 1989, Cărtărescu worked as a Romanian language teacher,[3] then worked at the Writers' Union of Romania and as an editor at Caiete Critice magazine. In 1991, he became a lecturer at the Chair of Romanian Literary History, part of the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Letters. As of 2010, he was an associate professor there, where he still lectures to this date.[4] Between 1994 and 1995, he was a visiting lecturer at the University of Amsterdam and currently holds the same position at the University of Stuttgart. In 2012, he received the International Literature Award for his novel The Body.
Cărtărescu is married to the Romanian poet Ioana Nicolaie [ro], with whom he has a son.[5] He is a full professor at the University of Bucharest within the Department of Literary Studies.[6]
His debut as a writer was in 1978 with poetry published in România Literară magazine. Two years later, he published his first book, Faruri, vitrine, fotografii, which earned him the Romanian Writers' Union award for debut.[7] The post-modern epic poem The Levant appeared in 1990, written at a time of heavy censorship by the communist regime, without much hope of being translated, and published after the fall of communism, it is a parody that encompasses writing styles touching on several other Romanian writers, most notably Mihai Eminescu, from whose poem, "Scrisoarea III", he borrowed the metrical pattern and even some lines.[8]
In 2010, Blinding was voted novel of the decade by Romanian literary critics.[9]
His works have been translated into most European languages (including Spanish, French and English) and published in Europe, Hispanic America, and the United States.[10]
Cărtărescu has been rumoured to have been nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature multiple times, and has been considered one of the favorites to win the award.[11][a] In 2023, when Swedish journalist Carsten Palmer Schale had included him on a short list of favourites for the award,[12] Cărtărescu himself said that he is thankful for being included in such a list, and that he doesn't wish for anything more.[13]
Faruri, vitrine, fotografii..., ("Headlights, shop windows, photographs...") Cartea Românească, 1980 – Writers Union Prize for debut, 1980
Poeme de amor ("Love Poems"), Cartea Românească, 1982
Totul ("Everything"), Cartea Românească, 1984
Levantul (The Levant), Cartea Românească, 1990 – Writers Union Prize, 1990, republished by Humanitas in 1998
Dragostea ("Love"), Humanitas, 1994
50 de sonete de Mircea Cărtărescu cu cincizeci de desene de Tudor Jebeleanu ("50 Sonnets by Mircea Cărtărescu With Fifty Drawings by Tudor Jebeleanu"), Brumar 2003
Testament – Anthology of Modern Romanian Verse (1850–2015) second edition – bilingual version English/Romanian. Daniel Ioniță – editor and principal translator, with Eva Foster, Daniel Reynaud and Rochelle Bews. Minerva Publishing House. Bucharest 2015. ISBN978-973-21-1006-5
2013: Grand Prix of the Novi Sad International Poetry Festival[16]
2014: Best Translated Book Award, shortlisted for Blinding, translated from the Romanian into English by Sean Cotter[17]
2014: Premio Euskadi de Plata to the Best Book of 2014 for Las Bellas Extranjeras (Frumoasele străine), translated from the Romanian into Spanish by Marian Ochoa de Eribe (Editorial Impedimenta)
^However, it's important to note that the Nobel Prize nomination process is confidential, and the official nominations are not publicly disclosed until 50 years later. Therefore, while Cărtărescu's name might have been mentioned as a potential nominee, the actual nominations and candidates are not confirmed publicly.
