In recent years, the way we read literature has fundamentally changed. A novel is no longer just an inward journey into another mind, but an open structure—fragmentary, dispersed, and deeply intertwined with everyday life.
Stories now develop parallel biographies. Characters leave the page and continue their existence through images, films, objects, fan interpretations, and performative gestures. Fiction becomes tangible.
Among my novels, Lizoanca at Eleven seems to have acquired the richest independent life. At the Romanian Literature Museum, director Ioan Cristescu often asks me, “How is Lizoanca doing?”—and I always have an answer.
This summer, photographer Victor Oancea, interested in figures with epic potential, created a photographic series inspired by Lizoanca, together with model Alexandra Ungureanu. These images do not illustrate the novel, but rather propose a personal, autonomous version of the character.
From that moment on, events began to unfold rapidly:
a book trailer by Cristi Panaitescu, followed by short films;
an audiobook recording produced at Voxa Studios;
and the gradual accumulation of objects and ideas inside the museum.
Visitors brought symbolic artifacts—the tin shoes, autograph ideas, and finally a collective ledger in which anyone can write messages to Lizoanca or reinterpret her story. The idea belongs to Maria Terzian.
Rather than calling this an installation, I prefer to describe it as an encounter:
an immersion into the universe of Lizoanca at Eleven,
a participatory game with fiction.
The public is invited to take part at the Romanian Literature Museum (8 Crețulescu Street, Bucharest), until October 11.
The official opening will take place on October 12, at 7 PM, in the museum garden.
For one month, visitors can explore a space where fragments of the novel unfold and where the atmosphere of a book—now 15 years old—continues to breathe. Those inspired are welcome to write their own continuation of the story.
Additional events and encounters will take place throughout the month, all centered on the life of a character who has stepped beyond the novel.
First published in 2009, Lizoanca at Eleven received the Romanian Academy Award and has been translated into seven languages.
