CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2011 ION RATIU DEMOCRACY AWARD

DEADLINE – 30 APRIL 2011 The Woodrow Wilson Center Seeks Nominations for the 2011 Ion Ratiu Democracy Award. The purpose of the Ion Ratiu Democracy Award (IRDA) is to bring visibility and international recognition to the ideas, ideals and accomplishments of individuals around the world who are working on behalf of democracy. The event expresses the deep commitment to democracy of the late Ion Ratiu through his contributions as a Romanian politician as well as his interest in democratic change worldwide. For more information, please visit the IRDA website www.wilsoncenter.org/ratiu . Ideal candidates will be thoughtful practitioners and engaged thinkers, with the primary focus being on civil society leaders who are either established or emerging, though current or former government officials will be considered. The recipient of the award will be hosted in Washington, D.C., by the Wilson Center for one month to allow for broad and in-depth interaction with representatives of Washington’s policy, NGO and academic communities. The awardee will present the results of his/her experience at a workshop at the Wilson Center. The award workshop will take place in late November or early December 2011. The Center plans to publish the proceedings. The awardee will receive a stipend to cover travel, housing and living expenses, as well as local travel and book allowance. Nominations should be sent via e-mail to ionratiu-lecture@wilsoncenter.org or via mail to Christian Ostermann, Chair, Ion Ratiu Democracy Award, Woodrow Wilson Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, D.C., 20004, USA. Self-nominations are permitted. The deadline is 30 April 2011. Ion Ratiu (1917-2000) was one of the most outspoken and consistent voices of opposition to Nicolae Ceausescu, whose regime he opposed for years from London as the democratically elected leader of the World Union of Free Romanians. The Award is generously supported by the Ratiu Foundation (London), established in 1979 by Ion Ratiu and his wife Elisabeth Ratiu, in partnership with the Ratiu Democracy Center (Turda, Romania). For full text of the call, PLEASE CLICK HERE

CALL FOR RESEARCHERS: THE ION RATIU AND VIOREL TILEA ARCHIVES

DEADLINE – 1 MAY 2011 The Ratiu Foundation houses in its Manchester Square building in London two archives which are very important for a clear understanding of the Romanian exile, and a chronicle of the unsung campaign for freedom and democracy in Romania which took place in the West a long time before the Romanian revolution of 1989. These are the Ion Ratiu and Viorel Tilea archives. The Ratiu Foundation plans to open the Ratiu and Tilea archives for research during the summer of 2011, within a residency programme lasting for a maximum one month. The researchers (MA or PhD students, academics, affiliated or non-affiliated to an institution of higher education) are invited to send their proposals for study to mail@ratiufamilyfoundation.com, for the attention of Ramona Mitrica, Director. The deadline is 1 May 2011. The Ion Ratiu Archive contains various documents, personal, political and business papers and letters which belonged to Ion Ratiu, starting from 1940, continuing on up to his death in 2000. The London archive contains over 2,000 folders, among which can be found correspondence with important Western politicians and journalists, with members and leaders of the Romanian diaspora from the UK, Western Europe, USA and Australia, and a great number of documents and letters about the work of the World Union of Free Romanians (whose elected president was Ion Ratiu). Viorel Virgil Tilea CBE (1896-1972) was a Romanian diplomat, most noted for his ambassadorship in the United Kingdom during the Second World War. The papers in the possession of the Ratiu Foundation in London start, approximately, in 1918, although there are also earlier documents connected to his research on Dr Ioan Ratiu, and Iuliu Maniu. The Tilea Archive contains both personal and official correspondence and documents, some of them from Tilea’s time in the cabinet of Prime Minister Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, until his appointment as ambassador to London in 1938. Part of the documents and correspondence is centred on Viorel Tilea’s efforts to create a Free Romanian Movement during WW2. The Viorel Tilea Archive is in the process of being fully catalogued. For full text of the call, PLEASE CLICK HERE

THE CORNELIU M POPESCU PRIZE 2011 FOR POETRY TRANSLATED FROM A EUROPEAN LANGUAGE INTO ENGLISH

PRIZE: £1,500. DEADLINE – 31 MAY 2011 The Corneliu M Popescu Prize (awarded every other year) is organised by The Poetry Society and sponsored by The Ratiu Foundation. The prize is awarded biennially by the Poetry Society for a volume of poetry translated from a European language into English. The first Award was given in 1983. Formerly the European Poetry Translation Prize (1983-1997) the Prize was relaunched in 2003, and renamed in memory of the young Romanian translator Corneliu M Popescu. Corneliu, who translated the work of one of Romania’s leading poets, Mihai Eminescu, into English, died in an earthquake in 1977, aged 19. The Prize’s founding sponsor in the early 1980s was Romanian journalist, author and democracy campaigner Ion Ratiu. It has been supported by the Ratiu Foundation since 2003. A prize of £1500 will be awarded to the translator of a volume of poetry translated from a European language into English and published between 1 June 2009 and 31 May 2011. The deadline for submissions is 31 May 2011. For any questions, contact Alan Ward on marketingassistant@poetrysociety.org.uk . CORNELIU M POPESCU PRIZE-WINNERS 2009 - Madwomen by Gabriela Mistral (Univ. of Chicago Press) translated by Randall Couch; 2007 - The Drums of Silence by Kristiina Ehin (Oleander Press) translated by Ilmar Lehtpere; 2005 - The Bridge by Marin Sorescu (Bloodaxe) translated by Adam J Sorkin & Lidia Vianu; 2003 - Lighter than Air by Hans Magnus Enzensberger (Bloodaxe) translated by David Constantine. The first winner of the Prize, in 1983, was Tony Harrison for The Oresteia. For full text of the release and application details, PLEASE CLICK HERE