A new Korean edition of the poetry of renowned Romanian poet Elena Liliana Popescu has been published in South Korea, marking a significant moment of literary exchange between Romania and Korea. The poetry collection, titled “In a Moment of Silence”, has been translated and introduced to Korean readers by Korean poet and translator Kang Byeong-Cheol, who described the project as both a remarkable achievement and a personal honor. The volume appears in the Korean poetry series Geulnamu Poetry Selection 28 and presents the contemplative and philosophical voice of Popescu to a new linguistic and cultural audience.
The newly released book reflects the international stature of Elena Liliana Popescu, a poet, essayist, translator, editor, and professor at University of Bucharest. Holding a PhD in mathematics, Popescu is also a member of the Romanian Writers’ Union and the Romanian PEN Center. Over the course of her prolific career, she has published more than 75 poetry collections and books in Romania and abroad, including translated editions in English, French, and Spanish. Her poetry has been translated into more than thirty languages and featured in over forty-five international anthologies across more than fifteen countries, as well as in over 130 literary magazines worldwide.
Popescu’s literary presence extends across a remarkable geographic spectrum. Her works have appeared in countries including Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, the Republic of Moldova, Serbia, Spain, Taiwan, Türkiye, Uruguay, and the United States. In addition to her own creative work, she has translated and introduced the writings of more than 140 classical and contemporary authors through literary journals and international cultural initiatives.
The publication of “In a Moment of Silence” in South Korea was supported by the Korean World Literature Association, further strengthening the cultural and literary dialogue between East Asia and Europe. Commenting on the release, Elena Liliana Popescu expressed her gratitude to all contributors involved in bringing the book to Korean readers. “Yesterday, the trilingual poetry book In a Moment of Silence was released in South Korea,” she said. “I thank the Korean translator who translated from English, the translators who rendered the poems into English from Romanian, the publisher, and everyone who contributed to the realization of this book.”
This publication represents another milestone in the global journey of Elena Liliana Popescu’s poetry, reaffirming the universal resonance of her contemplative voice and the power of poetry to connect cultures across languages and continents.
Born in Turnu Măgurele, Romania, in 1948, she is a Doctor in Mathematics and Professor at the University of Bucharest, Romania. She is poet, translator and editor, member of the Writers’ Union of Romania. She has published more than forty books, of poetry and translations from English, French and Spanish, both in Romania and abroad. Some of her poems have been published in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Croatia, Cuba, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Mexico, Nicaragua, Salvador, Serbia, Spain, Taiwan, Uruguay, USA.
Among his books we mention: Tie (To You, 1994); Cânt de Iubire – Song of Love (1999; 2007); Peregrino (Pilgrim, Spain, 2004); Himno a La Existencia (Hymn to Existence, Mexico, 2006); 愛之頌 (Chinese version of Song of Love, Taiwan, 2006, second revised bilingual edition in English and Chinese, Taiwan, 2010); Cât de aproape … – Lo cerca que estabas … (How close…, 2007); Unde esti, Timp? (Time, where are you?, 2007); Poems (Romanian and Urdu, Pakistan, 2008); Peregrino (Pilgrim, Brazil, 2009); Dacă (the poem If, in Romanian and 42 different language versions, 2009); Song of Love, bilingual edition with English translation by Adrian George Sahlean, and Chinese by Lee Kuei-shien (Taiwan, 2010); Hymn to the Life (Taiwan, 2011), dedicated to her husband Nicolae, volume of poetry, translation into Chinese by Lee Kuei-shien; Além do azul – Dincolo de azur (Beyond to azure), bilingual edition, Portuguese and Romanian (Smile, Brazilia, 2012) (with Luciano Maia); Trei poeme din Europa – Three Poems from Europe (Pelerin Press, Bucharest, 2013), multilingual volume, dedicated to the memory of her husband, Nicolae (in Romanian and 41 translations in different languages from Europe); Cânt de Iubire – Song of Love – Chanson d’Amour, (Pelerin Press, Bucharest, România & Destine Literare Press, Montreal, Canada, 2013), trilingual volume (Romanian, English and French).
She edited Zborul – Vis şi Destin (Flying – Dream and Destiny, Hermes Press, Bucharest, 1999), a collection of memories and poetry by the poet and pilot George Ioana, her father, and The Man – the Mathematician – the Mentor Nicolae Popescu, University Press, Bucharest 2011, dedicated to her husband, member of Romanian Academy. Awards: Diploma and Honorary Mention in the Poetry Festival Uzdin of Serbia, 1997, First Prize at the Festival of Poetry “Novalis” in Munich, 1998, Diploma and mention in the X Contest Poetry “Leonardo Cercós”, Palma de Mallorca (Spain, 2007), Diploma and Honorary Mention, from Spain Embassy in Bucharest, Romania (2011). Her poems translated into English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Italian, Serbian, Chinese, Hungarian, Latin, Hebrew, Polish, Turkish, Urdu, have been published in various anthologies and magazines, both in Romania and abroad (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Estonia, Germany, El Salvador, Italy, Hungary, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Serbia, Spain, Taiwan, Turkey, Uruguay, USA).
She has translated into Romanian the works of more than ninety classic and contemporary authors. http://www.elena-liliana-popescu.ro/
Elena Liliana Popescu – POEME
WHEN YOU ARE FOUND
Born in Turnu Măgurele, Romania, in 1948, she is a Doctor in Mathematics and Professor at the University of Bucharest, Romania. She is poet, translator and editor, member of the Writers’ Union of Romania. She has published more than forty books, of poetry and translations from English, French and Spanish, both in Romania and abroad. Some of her poems have been published in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Croatia, Cuba, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Mexico, Nicaragua, Salvador, Serbia, Spain, Taiwan, Uruguay, USA.(ÎN CLIPA REGĂSIRII)
The shore reigns in the ocean’s freedom
Full darkness contains the light
Upon the still land, fear is the wave
that leaves in its wake the world to come.
Everything is nothing in seeking immortality
In this mute despair silence is the word.
Even unhappiness contains the happiness
when, humbled, you will leave this world.
Subdued illusion hides the truth
revealed only when you depart-
today the merely transitory
becomes eternal when you’re found.
***
FORGIVE ME
(IARTĂ-MĂ)
Forgive me
blank page
for breaking your tranquility
with whispers
laid out
line after
line,
tracing my thoughts,
that run
seeking
and searching
without knowing
they exist,
without knowing
they conceal
my Tranquility
and yours.
***
YOU NEVER TOLD ME
(NU MI-AI SPUS)
You told me
Poetry
is like
nothing ever before…
A miracle
found
in the silent moment
lying hidden
in the common
fact.
You told me
Poetry
is Wonderment
hiding
despair
of not knowing
to unravel the Mystery.
But you never told me
Poetry
calls you
Where
you can find
the Question–Answer.
***
WE WOULD HAVE TALKED SILENCES
(NE-AM FI SPUS TĂCERI)
I know of
nothing better
than Silence
to say
what is death,
what is life…
If only you had stayed! …
We would have talked
silences
and known
better
that Silence
within ourselves.
I know of
nothing better
than Silence
to fill
the moment,
the suffering,
the word…
***
SONG OF LOVE
(CÂNT DE IUBIRE)
Seated at the table of Silence,
In the unknown kingdom,
Poets break for us
fresh bread,
sprinkled
with heavenly dew..
The dead go with the dead, they say –
the living with the living!
But do we really know
who is dead,
and who is living?
Another Poet,
in the beyond…
One less Poet,
here.
Departing
for the silent kingdom,
the Poet leaves behind
a song of Love
unknown…
***
IF
(DACĂ)
If you could ever
measure the immeasurable,
take in the boundlessness
and, walking across nothingness,
be neither one nor the other;
If you could ever
be love without loving,
be hope without hoping,
be speech without speaking,
be thought without thinking;
If you could ever
hear the unheard,
look into the unseen
and learn the unknown –
would there be a new beginning?
English version: Adrian George Sahlean
