After so many days of sitting and writing, on 14 November, at 6.30 pm, at La Două Bufnițe Bookshop, we meet again with Taifas residents Moni Stănilă, Alexandru Vakulovski, Vasile Ernu and Adrian Schiop, to see the results of their stay in Timișoara and what will happen from here on. 

Moni Stănilă was born in Tomești, Timiș county, 1978. She studied orthodox theology in Timișoara and Sibiu. Since 2010 she has been living in Chisinau and together with Alexandru Vakulovski she runs the Literary Circle "Republica" of the Municipal Library.

Her books have been awarded both in Moldova and Romania (Radio Romania Cultural and Observator Cultural awards for the book Ofsaid, awards of the National Library and the Municipal Library, the Union of Writers of Moldova, etc.). a.). She participated in several international festivals and events (Germany, France, Turkey, Spain, Bulgaria, Belgium). Some of her poems have been translated into French, German, English, Swedish, Spanish, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Russian, Azerbaijani, Catalan, Turkish and others.

Alexandru Vakulovski was born in 1978 in Moldova. He is a poet, prose writer, playwright, translator, publicist and screenwriter. He graduated from the Faculty of Letters of the Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj. Together with his brother Mihail Vakulovski and graphic designer Dan Perjovschi he founded the online magazine Tiuk! He was editor-in-chief of Stare de Urgență magazine in 2009 and editor of PLIC - literature, art, attitude in 2010. Together with Moni Stănilă, he directs the Republica cenacle of the Chisinau Municipal Library. For the same library she has been producing, since 2019, Dialogues of the Library. Poems and excerpts from his books have been translated into German, English, Czech, French, Swedish, Russian, Azerbaijani, Turkish, Hungarian, Italian, Greek, Lithuanian.

Vasile Ernu is a writer born in the USSR in 1971. He graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy (Al.I.Cuza University, Iasi, 1996) and from the Master of Philosophy (Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj, 1997). He was founding editor of the journal Philosophy&Stuff and associate editor of the journal Idea arte+societate. He has worked for the Idea and Tranzit Foundation and the Idea and Polirom publishing houses. In recent years he has written opinion columns for Liberatatea, România Liberă, HotNews, Timpul and Adevărul, as well as permanent columns for Noua Literatură, Suplimentul de Cultură and Observator Cultural.

Adi Schiop - writer and scriptwriter. He graduated from the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences (Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj), then a master's degree in linguistics at the Faculty of Letters of the same university. PhD in anthropology at SNSPA Bucharest, with a thesis on manele, under the supervision of Professor Vintilă Mihăilescu and published under the title Șmecherie și lume mal. Universul social al manelelor (Cartier, 2017). He spent a year and a half (2001 - 2003) as an illegal immigrant in New Zealand, where he worked in agriculture and as a painter. In Romania, he worked as a literature teacher (1997-2001), journalist (2004-2010), content writer (2019 - present). He has published four autofictional novels: pe bune/pe invers (Polirom, 2004), Zero grade Kelvin (Polirom, 2009), Soldiții. Poveste din Ferentari (Polirom, 2013, 2014, 2017) and Să ne ne fie la toțis la fel de rău (2021, 2023), plus a volume of poetry, nu e dragoste (Cartier, 2023).

The event is part of the Taifas Literary Residency and is part of the Taifas - Balkan Film and Culture Festival, which will take place from 5-12 November in Timisoara.

Producers: Contrasens Cultural Association, Bad Unicorn

Funders: AFCN, Ministry of Culture through the Timisoara Project Centre

Project partners: Archeia Tainion tis Ellados Tainiothiki (Greece), Arte Urbana Collectif (Bulgaria), CRIES Association and "La Pas" Artisan Gastronomy Festival, Bacaci Sjenki / Shadow Casters (Croatia), Cinema Arta Cluj, Cinema Victoria Timișoara, Cinemateca Portuguesa (Portugal), CinEd, Casa Corpului Didactic Timiș, Filarmonica Banatul, FITT, Hotel Excelsior, iabilet. ro, French Institute, La Două Bufnițe Bookstore, Sakarya Film University (Turkey), West University of Timișoara

Media partners: Radio Guerrilla, Agerpres, Happ.ro, Observator Cultural, Știri de Timișoara, Ziarul Metropolis