Elena Ștefoi (Romania)

ELENA ȘTEFOI was born on July 19, 1954. She graduated from Faculty of History and Philosophy. Ph.D in Philosophy, University of Bucharest.

Executive secretary at literary weekly magazine Contrapunct and editor-in-chief at Dilema magazine, associate editor at the quarterly East European Constitutional Review – Chicago Law School, correspondent at Radio France Internationale, Radio Free Europe and BBC (1990-1997).

Joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1998 as Director of Cabinet, counsellor to the Minister. Consul general of Romania in Montreal, Canada (1999-2001), Ambassador of Romania to Canada (2005-2012), Ambassador of Romania to Senegal (2016-2020).

Member of Romania ’s Writers Union. Member of PEN Romanian Centre.

Since her literary debut in 1983 (awarded by the Writers’ Union) she published 11 books of poetry, most recent  A Grammar of Tower of Babel, Parallel texts (2014), Opera Poetica (2016), Interim Report (2011) and Of all those (2021). She has been published in numerous anthologies of Romanian literature abroad (Germany, France, Luxembourg, Poland, USA, Austria, Canada, United Kingdom). Her poems have appeared in several magazines, among them Metamorphoses, International Poetry Review,  Turbulence Magazine.

Awarded with The Medal of the Canadian Diplomatic Corps (2012), The Diplomatic Merit Medal, awarded by the President of Romania (2006),The Order for Loyal Service, awarded by the President of Romania (2000).