New East Digital Archive

Paula Erizanu

Paula Erizanu was the Culture Editor of The Calvert Journal between 2019-2022. Her work has also appeared in The Guardian, London Review of Books, CNN, Aeon, Dazed, The Architectural Review and other publications. Erizanu did her BA in History with English and History of Art at the New College of the Humanities in London, and her MA in Magazine Journalism at City University London. She published a book on the 2009 protests in Moldova, This is my first revolution. Steal It (Cartier, 2010, trilingual edition), a poetry collection, Take Care (Charmides, 2015, Romanian), and has coordinated the three-part anthology A Century of Romanian Poetry Written by Women (Cartier, 2019, 2020, Romanian), together with Alina Purcaru. In 2019, she was nominated for the Words by Women award as UK’s culture journalist of the year. Her debut novel, The Woods Are Burning, a fictionalised historical account of the lives of early Soviet feminists Alexandra Kollontai and Inessa Armand, was published in Romanian in 2021. The book won Erizanu the Young Writer of the Year 2021 title at Bucharest’s Young Writers Gala. It was also shortlisted for the Sofia Nădejde Prize in Romania and Festival du Premier Roman in Chambery, France. You can follow her on Twitter here.

Serhiy Zhadan’s The Orphanage is a powerful novel on the experience of war in Ukraine | Calvert Reads

Serhiy Zhadan’s The Orphanage is a powerful novel on the experience of war in Ukraine | Calvert Reads

‘It feels like begging:’ why Bosnia’s national museums are struggling to survive

‘It feels like begging:’ why Bosnia’s national museums are struggling to survive

The Other Bulgarian Women: the show dividing a country

The Other Bulgarian Women: the show dividing a country

The Czech Republic’s tallest skyscraper reflects a city’s changing identity | Concrete Ideas

The Czech Republic’s tallest skyscraper reflects a city’s changing identity | Concrete Ideas

‘I had the courage to work at the very root of evil:’ 3 poems by Romanian poet Mariana Marin

‘I had the courage to work at the very root of evil:’ 3 poems by Romanian poet Mariana Marin

Tchaikovsky’s Wife: Kirill Serebrennikov announces new film project

Tchaikovsky’s Wife: Kirill Serebrennikov announces new film project

Kosovo scoops country’s first Oscar shortlist nomination

Kosovo scoops country’s first Oscar shortlist nomination

An old Polish mill is disassembled and rebuilt into a modern rural home | Concrete Ideas

An old Polish mill is disassembled and rebuilt into a modern rural home | Concrete Ideas

‘I didn’t think it was my fault, but thanks:’ feminist poetry from Romania by Ileana Negrea and Cătălina Stanislav

‘I didn’t think it was my fault, but thanks:’ feminist poetry from Romania by Ileana Negrea and Cătălina Stanislav

Prin Lume: the bittersweet electro-pop debut by Romanian singer-songwriter Paulina

Prin Lume: the bittersweet electro-pop debut by Romanian singer-songwriter Paulina

The women who shaped Moldovan feminism, celebrated in illustrations

The women who shaped Moldovan feminism, celebrated in illustrations

Malevich’s avant-garde shapes transformed into jewellery

Malevich’s avant-garde shapes transformed into jewellery

The end of Istropolis: the modernist Slovak landmark doomed to demolition | Concrete Ideas

The end of Istropolis: the modernist Slovak landmark doomed to demolition | Concrete Ideas

Svetlana Alexievich named among Forbes 50 over 50 list

Svetlana Alexievich named among Forbes 50 over 50 list

Embracing modernism in Slovenia’s only mosque | Concrete Ideas

Embracing modernism in Slovenia’s only mosque | Concrete Ideas

A Croatian factory faces the reality of its socialist dream

A Croatian factory faces the reality of its socialist dream

Reviving Czechoslovakia’s Super Special Sneakers

Reviving Czechoslovakia’s Super Special Sneakers

The South Czech Philharmonic Concert Hall gets a second, minimalist life | Concrete Ideas

The South Czech Philharmonic Concert Hall gets a second, minimalist life | Concrete Ideas

Witty and frank: Wislawa Szymborska’s book How to Start Writing (and When to Stop) | Calvert Reads

Witty and frank: Wislawa Szymborska’s book How to Start Writing (and When to Stop) | Calvert Reads

Ukraine’s Culture Minister blames Netflix for Emily in Paris stereotype

Ukraine’s Culture Minister blames Netflix for Emily in Paris stereotype

Dress your tree with Soviet stars and other vintage ornaments from the USSR

Dress your tree with Soviet stars and other vintage ornaments from the USSR

How you can use NFTs to build a real-life pavilion in the heart of Tallinn | Concrete Ideas

How you can use NFTs to build a real-life pavilion in the heart of Tallinn | Concrete Ideas

We travelled across Europe in a campervan to meet Romania’s growing diaspora

We travelled across Europe in a campervan to meet Romania’s growing diaspora

The Instagram that lets you time-travel through Transylvania’s culture, craft and cooking

The Instagram that lets you time-travel through Transylvania’s culture, craft and cooking

‘People for the state or state for the people?’ Russian journalist accepts Nobel prize with call for press freedom

‘People for the state or state for the people?’ Russian journalist accepts Nobel prize with call for press freedom

This modern Czech home hides a remodelled ancient Greek atrium | Concrete Ideas

This modern Czech home hides a remodelled ancient Greek atrium | Concrete Ideas

Coming alive with skiing: The Accident is an elegant interwar novel on winter love | Calvert Reads

Coming alive with skiing: The Accident is an elegant interwar novel on winter love | Calvert Reads

Poljud Stadium: the Yugoslav-era sports venue shaped like a seashell | Concrete Ideas

Poljud Stadium: the Yugoslav-era sports venue shaped like a seashell | Concrete Ideas

‘History crams a lesson down your throat:’ a thunderous poem on wartime by Russian poet Polina Barskova

‘History crams a lesson down your throat:’ a thunderous poem on wartime by Russian poet Polina Barskova

‘Like our grandparents:’ the modern photographer travelling back to 1950s Moldova

‘Like our grandparents:’ the modern photographer travelling back to 1950s Moldova

Deri Dako’s hypnotic ambient LP explores the states between sickness and health

Deri Dako’s hypnotic ambient LP explores the states between sickness and health

The story behind Haludovo, the luxury Yugoslav-era hotel built for the international elite | Concrete Ideas

The story behind Haludovo, the luxury Yugoslav-era hotel built for the international elite | Concrete Ideas

‘No enemies, only survivors:’ Bosnia’s star writer, Faruk Šehić, on rivers, war and a borderless world

‘No enemies, only survivors:’ Bosnia’s star writer, Faruk Šehić, on rivers, war and a borderless world