Invited to the inaugural edition of Bookfest Oradea, Doina Ruști enjoyed a memorable encounter with her readers at the Sion Synagogue, before a large audience of schoolchildren, university students, teachers, writers, and literature lovers. The writer recounts this experience, her friendships in Oradea, and the unexpected surprises of the event in a personal story touched by the fantastic, whose unlikely protagonist is a little dragon given to her just before her departure:
“My journey to Oradea began at Otopeni Airport, where a man came up to me and handed me a little dragon: Take him with you, and when you get to Oradea, throw him straight into the middle of the Criș River, so I can finally be rid of him.
What else could I do? I slipped him into my pocket and set off.
But along the way, the little dragon launched into a speech: No dragon is so wicked that he deserves to be thrown into the Criș. Put him in the right pocket, and he'll spread everywhere that euphoria we all long for. Look, he boasted, just now I sent a little shower of affection over the Greek-Catholic School, and Ioana's pupils have already started making a film about Matuf. At Eminescu High School, Flori is staging a chapter from Ferenike, while at the Faculty of Letters, Ioana Cistelecan and Veronica Buciuman, together with the entire third-year class, are already having conversations with me. I'd say they're already in love with me.
As for Lidia Bodea, you should know she's borrowed a pair of wings from me. And what's more, Ancuța Șchiop is writing you a letter, while Doru Mateoc has promised a poem about your white greyhound.
And to prove I'm not lying, the little dragon went on, you'll find the synagogue packed with people. The students from the school named after your ancestor, Emanuil Gojdu, have reserved seats in the balcony and even composed an anthem to freedom.
As I listened to him, I began to soften or, as an old chronicler would put it, to sway like a flower.
I forgave him, and when I entered the synagogue, I realised that my pocket had filled up with dragons. I handed them out to a few of my beloved readers in Oradea.
Kisses to you all, and take good care of your dragons!”
— Doina Ruști
The Oradea event, held as part of the inaugural edition of Bookfest, was dedicated to the novels Matuf, peruchierul, Ferenike și Nas de bulgar (A Bulgarian Nose), published by Humanitas. Beyond the conversations with the audience and the surprises prepared by the young readers, the gathering became a celebration of literature and the friendships that grow around books. As for the little dragons handed out at the Sion Synagogue, only time will tell what stories they might stir up next.
The event was covered by Agerpres and the local press in Oradea.
Guests at this inaugural edition included Gabriel Liiceanu, Doina Ruști, Armand Goșu, Dennis Deletant, Radu Paraschivescu, and Tatiana Niculescu, alongside Tudor Dinu, Cătălin Vasilescu, Filip Florian, Radu Pavel Gheo, Alina Pavelescu, Ioan F. Pop, Cristian Preda, Florin Ardelean, Miron Beteg, Mihai Maci, and many others.
