In so-called communist Romania, chess was held in high esteem, even if our champions were weaker than the Soviets. This game, this "sport of the mind," was at the time a better way to establish your reputation than literature. — Dumitru Tepeneag Copy Share Image
The reader's impression is one of a dream - the only thing that's left upon waking is the memory of a melody at the… — Dumitru Tepeneag Copy Share Image
I had severed relations with the Romanian exiles who had become politically conservative and even extremely right wing; I was giving chess lessons to… — Dumitru Tepeneag Copy Share Image
Since adolescence I've had a passion for Romantic Fantastique literature, which continued with Expressionism and culminated with the genius of Kafka. It's that German… — Dumitru Tepeneag Copy Share Image
I was a professional chess player in Romania, but only a small-time master. When I came to France, I continued playing chess for many years: I played tournaments in numerous countries with mixed results. I wrote and published a book - La Défense Alekhine and translated two others from Russian. I taught chess in schools; I earned more money through… — Dumitru Tepeneag Copy Share
There is no one 'best set-up', there are many - you can get to mate in endless ways. And - don't forget! - in… — Dumitru Tepeneag Copy Share Image
It's true that in Romanian I feel more relaxed, as if I'm wearing slippers...but I came to this decision primarily for other reasons: I… — Dumitru Tepeneag Copy Share Image
Vain Art of the Fugue was the only one of my novels to be met with relative public recognition: it was nominated for the Prix Médicis by Alain Robbe-Grillet. Milan Kundera pocketed the prize instead and the public never clamored to buy it. — Dumitru Tepeneag Copy Share
My first book published in France was translated and titled Exercices d'Attente in 1972. It was a collection of short works written and published in Romania. In 1973 I was ready to publish the novel Arpièges, which I had started writing in Romanian and of which I had published some fragments under the title Vain Art of the Fugue. Some… — Dumitru Tepeneag Copy Share
Our Onirisme movement was a synthesis between the Romantic Fantastique and Surrealism. Dimov and I rejected automatic writing. We loved surrealist painters: Chirico, Magritte,… — Dumitru Tepeneag Copy Share Image
It's not the subject of narration that interests me, but the structure. That's why I stay in touch with my old works, which I… — Dumitru Tepeneag Copy Share Image
On the other hand, Surrealism has been a part of Romanian literature since forever. Even before Tzara, who was originally Romanian, we had Urmuz, who was a surrealist before the term even existed. During Breton's era too, there was a very active Romanian Surrealist group (Ghérasim Luca, Gellu Naum, etc.) closely related to the French. They had to quit their… — Dumitru Tepeneag Copy Share
Seine et Danube was launched in 2003 with the help of Romanian authorities who had finally realized the necessity of promoting literature and Romanian culture in general. Along with focusing on the literature of the countries the Danube traversed (with an emphasis on Romania), we printed work that interested us from the banks of the Seine: French and French-Romanian authors… — Dumitru Tepeneag Copy Share
