Dangerous Caprices (Paperback or Softback)

The only difference between a caprice and a lifelong passion is that the caprice lasts a little longer

Oscar Wilde The Picture of Dorian Gray

Nora Iuga created her title from this half-remembered quotation.

Already at the age of 67 when Iuga brought out this collection, her typical subject-matter of love and sensuality and relationships had extended to include leave-taking and death - as well as language itself. Writing has a redemptive effect, and is sometimes the only way out of despair: her 'ballpoint pen is equal to god'.

This collection encompasses elements of surreality, captivating the reader with unexpected imagery. There is wistfulness, too, but Iuga is never bitter, and an undertone of irony is ever-present.

One of the most important, productive, and original Romanian writers and translators, Nora Iuga (born 4 January 1931) has had a career that spans more than five decades. She made her editorial debut in 1968 with the collection of poems It's not My Fault ("Vina nu e a mea"). Under the accusation that her work disseminated "morbid eroticism" and would have a bad influence on the young generation, Iuga was banned by the communist censors from publishing fiction and poetry from 1971 to 1978, while her books were withdrawn from public libraries and book stores. Since then, she has published twenty collections of poems, and twice been awarded the Romanian Writers' Union Prize for Best Poetry Collection of the Year.

Diana Manole is a Romanian-Canadian scholar, literary translator, and the author of nine collections of poems and plays. She holds a doctorate from the University of Toronto and since 2006 has been teaching theatre, literature, and creative writing at universities in Canada. She has also translated or co-translated seven poetry collections from/into Romanian and, with Adam J. Sorkin, earned 2nd prize in the 2018 John Dryden Translation Competition. Her independent translations of Romanian poetry have appeared in Asymptote, Columbia Journal, Washington Square Review, Poet Lore, Blue Nib, Arc Magazine, and on National Translation Month. She has also translated into English two docudramas about the rights of Roma women in Romania, Del Duma - Tell Them About Me and Who Killed Szomna Grancsa? published in the first two collections, Roma Heroes (2019 & 2021) by Independent Theater Hungary.

Adam J. Sorkin, described by Asymptote Journal as a "star translator," has published more than sixty-five books of contemporary Romanian literature in English. His recent books include The Hunchbacks' Bus by Nora Iuga which was translated in collaboration with Manole; A Deafening Silence by Magda Cârneci, translated with Mădălina Bănucu and the poet (Shearsman Books, 2017); The Barbarians' Return by Mircea Dinescu, translated with Lidia Vianu (Bloodaxe Books, 2018); and in 2020, Cousin Shakespeare: A Tragedy in Five Acts by Marin Sorescu, translation with Lidia Vianu (Editura Hoffman, Caracal, Romania), and three poetry collections: A Spider's History of Love by Mircea Cărtărescu, translated with multiple co-translators (New Meridian Arts), Lavinia and Her Daughters by Ioana Ieronim, translated with the author (Červená Barva Press), and The God's Orbit by Aura Christi, translated with Petru Iamandi (Mica Press). In 2021, Quarantine Songs by Carmen Firan and Adrian Sângeorzan, translated with the authors, appeared from New Meridian Arts, and Night with a Pocketful of Stones by Traian T. Coșovei, mostly translated with Andreea Iulia Scridon, from Broken Sleep Books. Sorkin's translation with Lidia Vianu of Marin Sorescu's last book of poems, The Bridge, won The Poetry Society (UK) Popescu Prize for European Poetry Translation in 2005.