Mircea Cartarescu was born in Bucharest in 1956. His novels and poetry are widely considered to be the best writing to emerge from post-communist Romania. His books, including the trilogy Blinding, Solenoid and Nostalgia have been translated into over twenty languages. Solenoid was longlisted for the International Booker Prize and he has received many awards, including most recently the Dublin Literary Award, the Thomas Mann Prize and the Prix Formentor.