RADU SERGIU RUBA (Romania)

RADU SERGIU RUBA was born on October 14th 1954, in Ardud, Satu Mare conty, north-west of Romania. At 11 years, he totally lost his sight. His training started in a mainstream school and continued in The Institute for the Blind of Cluj. Graduating the hight secondary school, he studied foreign languages (French and English) at the Bucharest University. He was employed as teacher of French and lecturer of English in the British Council projects in Bucharest. He managed in the same time NGOs in the disability area like The Romanian Association of the Blind and The National Disability Council. He was also member and chairman of The Culture and Education Commission in The European Blind Union and was member of this Organization Board between 2011-2015.

Known in his country as poet, novelist, translater and radiojournalist, Radu Sergiu Ruba broadcasts a weekly program regarding the visually disabled persons in the Romanian Public Radio since 1992.

Eight volumes of poetry, three of essays and interviews, two of short stories and four novels and an Antology of the Romanian Blind Authors are signed Radu Sergiu Ruba since 1983. One of his novels was translated and issued into Italian and Portuguese. Its first translated version is in English under the title Blind man’s light, posted on Amazon. The novel is also translated into Spanish and is looking for an editor. Ruba also translated in Romanian French authors.

Among the numerous literary awards he has received, the most relevant are: The France Foreign Office Award at the World Festival of Short Stories (written or translated in French), Paris, 1993; The Romanian Academy Award for Fiction, Bucharest, 2016, for the novel A summer that never sets, in English version – Blind Man’s Light. He was also distinguished, by the president of the country, with The Cultural Merit Order of Romania in 2008.