French author Éric Reinhardt will be present at this year’s edition of Bookfest, the book fair currently taking place in Bucharest with Portugal as guest country.
Author of novels that examine the mechanisms of power, identity, and femininity, Reinhardt has established himself through titles such as L’Amour et les Forêts (Prix Renaudot des lycées, 2014), recently adapted for cinema, and Comédies françaises (Prix Les Inrockuptibles, 2020).
At Bookfest, he will be the protagonist of a conversation with journalist and writer Ioana Maria Stăncescu during an event on May 30. The discussion, held in French, will explore the representations of femininity and the metamorphosis of identity in his literature, with the participation of professor Lidia Cotea, the director of the Department of French Language and Literature at the University of Bucharest.
The presence of the French author is part of France’s program at Bookfest, organized by the French Institute in Romania.
Another French guest is researcher and editor Olivier Roche, known for studies dedicated to Hergé’s work and the Tintin universe. Author of the volume Tintin. Bibliographie d’un mythe (Les Impressions nouvelles, 2014 and 2025) and co-editor of the works Hergé au sommet and Tintin aujourd’hui. Images et imaginaires, Roche “opens, through what he called ‘metatintinology,’ a field of reflection that transcends the boundaries of comics as a simple narrative form.”
The space dedicated to comics will also see the participation of Dodo Niță, a historian of Romanian comics and author of the volume Tintin en Roumanie, as well as the Franco-Romanian artist Daniel Horia, known for the autobiographical graphic novel Je suis né roumain.
The stand of France will also feature two authors who explore, each in their own way, the concept of belonging, memory and female identity. They are Sophie Képès, with the volume Désappartenir, a literary essay on identity, inner exile, and “non-belonging” as an existential choice, and Laurence Meiffret, with Génica Athanasiou – L’anti-muse d’Antonin Artaud, a biography about the Franco-Romanian actress who influenced the theater and avant-garde imagination of the 20th century.
Romania and the Republic of Moldova’s proposal for the Goncourt Prize will also be announced at Bookfest on May 29. Part of the international Choix Goncourt network, the event reflects the literary choice of the young generation of French-speaking readers.
France’s participation at Bookfest is part of the cultural season French Spring Together. Held between March and June 2025, it is part of the Centenary of the French Institute in Romania, which celebrates, through events, the 100 years of cultural, scientific and educational cooperation between France and Romania. The French Institute in Romania was founded in Bucharest on May 30, 1924, and later expanded to Cluj, Iași, and Timișoara.
(Illustration: French Institute)
simona@romania-insider.com
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