Petru Popescu

Petru Popescu (born February 1, 1944 in Bucharest, Romania) is a Romanian-American writer, director and movie 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 Bucharest University.^[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 the International Writing Program of the University of Iowa, Popescu defected in 1973^[4] or 1974 while in England on a private trip related to the English translation of his book Sfârşitul 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 he 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 USA, 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.

Movies

^[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 (No. 46, 2000). "PETRU POPESCU - "Sînt multe momente cînd tresare în mine România şi nu încerc să le reprim"" (in Romanian). Romania literara. Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. Sasu, Aurel (2006). Dictionarul biografic al literaturii romana. Pitesti: Paralela 45. pp. 410–411.
3. "Petru POPESCU". http://iwp.uiowa.edu. Retrieved August 3, 2014. External link in |publisher= (help)
4. Tuca, Marius (November 20, 2009). "Petru Popescu: "M-am despărţit de Zoia pentru că mi-era frică de Ceauşescu"" (in Romanian). jurnalul.ro. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
5. "Petru Popescu: De ce am plecat din România, devenind transfug în 1974?" (in Romanian). jurnalul.ro. October 19, 2010. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
6. Constantin, Dumitru (January 17, 2011). "În 1976, Petru Popescu declara româna o limbă folclorică şi-l critica pe Soljeniţîn" (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 (No. 12, 2001). "Sîntem cu toţii inocenţi?" (in Romanian). Romania literara. Retrieved August 3, 2014. Check date values in: |date= (help)
11. Roseti, Roxana (October 11, 2009). "Bună ziua, domnule Petru Popescu, bună ziua, Beverly Hills!" (in Romanian). jurnalul.ro. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
12. "Redford Helps Romanian Director". Toledo Blade. 19 August 1984.
13. "Thanks to Robert Redford-Independent Filmmaker Gets Chance to Prove His Ability". Schenectady Gazette. 21 July 1984. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
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