Ruxandra Cesereanu - Biography

Biography

Born in Cluj-Napoca, Ruxandra Cesereanu is the daughter of writer Domeţian Teodoziu Cesereanu and his wife Aurora, a teacher. She graduated from the Natural Sciences High School (now the Onisifor Ghibu High School), and studied Philology at the UBB's Romanian-Spanish Department (graduating in 1985). She received her graduation diploma with a thesis on the work of poet Mihai Eminescu (Moartea, visul şi somnul în opera lui Eminescu, or "Death, Dreaming and Sleep in the Work of Mihai Eminescu").

After being assigned a teaching position in 1988, she taught Romanian language and literature at educational institutions in Năsăud, Bistriţa, and Avrig. In 1989, the year when the communist regime was toppled by the Romanian Revolution, Cesereanu was working in Cluj-Napoca, where she was an editor for the Film Distribution Section of Transylvania. In 1990, she became an editor for the film and movie magazine Ecran, before joining Steaua 's staff the following year. She also worked as a journalist for Ziarul de Cluj in 1998.

In 1994, Ruxandra Cesereanu began teaching at the UBB's Faculty of Letters, and moved on to the Faculty of Political Sciences' Journalism Department in 2000. She was the recipient of several scholarships: in 1992, the Central European University granted her a one-year study course in Prague, and in 1995 she received a similar grant from the Soros Foundation.

After receiving a PhD in 1997, with a thesis on the impact of communist persecution on Romanian culture (Infernul concentraţionar reflectat în conştiinţa românească, "The Inferno of the Prison System as Reflected in the Romanian Consciousness"), Cesereanu was the recipient of a Fulbright Grant to the United States, affiliating with the Columbia University, Harriman Institute in New York City (1999-2000). She then received a four-month research grant in France, followed by two creativity grants in, respectively, Rhodes and Arles. She became a Lecturer (2002) and then a Prelector (2003) for the UBB's Journalism Department.

Cesereanu is a member of the Romanian Writers' Union since 1994, and of the Romanian PEN Club since 2001. She is also a member of the UBB's Center for Imagination Studies and of the Echinox Cultural Foundation. In addition to her work as a writer and commentator, Cesereanu has also produced a short documentary film for the Cluj-Napoca branch of the national television channel (Treisprezece biserici, "Thirteen Churches", 1998), and a four-episode talk show series on cultural issues, aired by the same station during 2000. Cesereanu also organized two cultural events in her native city: a poetry symposium in 1998 and an art exhibit in 1999. The Cluj-Napoca Writers' Association granted her its Poetry Award on two separate occasions (1994, 2005), and its Essay Award in 1998 and 2001. She is a recipient of Apostrof magazine's Ion Negoiţescu Award in the Essay category (1998), and received the Lions Club Prose Prize in 2005.

In addition to her contributions to Steaua, Apostrof and Ziarul de Cluj, Cesereanu had her articles hosted by publications such as Cuvântul, Tribuna, Familia, Revista 22, Vatra, România Literară, Observator Cultural, Convorbiri Literare, Romanian Review, Orizont, Memoria and Echinox, as well as in Columbia University's Intermarium and the Moldovan literary magazine Contrafort.

Ruxandra Cesereanu is married to Corin Braga, a lecturer at the UBB's Faculty of Letters. She signs her works with her maiden name.

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