Marin Sorescu

Marin Sorescu was a Romanian poet, playwright, writer, and politician. Marin Sorescu was born in Bulzești, Dolj County, and eventually graduated from the University of Iași with a degree in modern languages. His first book, a 1964 collection of parodies, gained wide attention and was followed by numerous volumes of poetry and prose that established him as a prominent literary figure. His popularity grew rapidly, and in 1971 he joined the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa. He often spoke ironically about his own work and described feeling alienated by language. Several of his poems were censored under the Nicolae Ceaușescu regime and were published only after the 1989 Revolution. Sorescu’s play, Iona, was published in 1968 and was considered a 'masterpiece.' He got sick with cirrhosis and hepatitis, and died at age 60 from a myocardial infarction induced heart attack.