Mircea Cărtărescu (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈmirtʃe̯a kərtəˈresku]; born 1 June 1956^[1]) is a Romanian novelist, poet, short-story writer, literary critic, and essayist.^[2]

Born in Bucharest in 1956, he attended Cantemir Vodă National College during the early 1970s. During his school years, he was a member of literary groups led by Nicolae Manolescu and Ovid S. Crohmălniceanu. At that time, along with many teenagers of his generation, Cărtărescu was tremendously influenced by the legacy of the 1960s American counterculture, including artists such as Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and The Doors. He commenced writing poetry in 1978.

Later, he studied at the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Letters, Department of Romanian Language and Literature. He graduated in 1980 with a thesis that later became his book on poetry, more specifically The Chimaeric Dream. That same year, some of his works were published by Cartea Românească.

Between 1980 and 1989, Cărtărescu worked as a Romanian language teacher,^[3] then worked at the Writers' Union of Romania and as an editor at Caiete Critice magazine. In 1991, he became a lecturer at the Chair of Romanian Literary History, part of the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Letters. As of 2010, he was an associate professor there, where he still lectures to this date.^[4] Between 1994 and 1995, he was a visiting lecturer at the University of Amsterdam and currently holds the same position at the University of Stuttgart. In 2012, he received the International Literature Award for his novel The Body.

Cărtărescu is married to the Romanian poet Ioana Nicolaie [ro], with whom he has a son.^[5] He is a full professor at the University of Bucharest within the Department of Literary Studies.^[6]

His debut as a writer was in 1978 with poetry published in România Literară magazine. Two years later, he published his first book, Faruri, vitrine, fotografii, which earned him the Romanian Writers' Union award for debut.^[7] The post-modern epic poem The Levant appeared in 1990, written at a time of heavy censorship by the communist regime, without much hope of being translated, and published after the fall of communism, it is a parody that encompasses writing styles touching on several other Romanian writers, most notably Mihai Eminescu, from whose poem, "Scrisoarea III", he borrowed the metrical pattern and even some lines.^[8]

In 2010, Blinding was voted novel of the decade by Romanian literary critics.^[9]

His works have been translated into most European languages (including Spanish, French and English) and published in Europe, Hispanic America, and the United States.^[10]

Cărtărescu has been rumoured to have been nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature multiple times, and has been considered one of the favorites to win the award.^{[11][lower-alpha 1]} In 2023, when Swedish journalist Carsten Palmer Schale had included him on a short list of favourites for the award,^[12] Cărtărescu himself said that he is thankful for being included in such a list, and that he doesn't wish for anything more.^[13]

• 1980: Romanian Writers' Union Prize
• 1989: Romanian Academy's Prize, for Visul
• 1990: Romanian Writer's Unions Prize, Flacăra magazine Prize, Ateneu magazine Prize, Tomis magazine Prize, Cuvântul magazine Prize
• 1992: Le Rêve nominee for: Prix Médicis, Prix Union Latine, Le meilleur livre étranger
• 1994: Romanian Writer's Union Prize, ASPRO Prize, Moldavian Writers' Union Prize, for Travesti
• 1996: ASPRO Prize, Flacăra magazine Prize, Ateneu magazine Prize, Tomis magazine Prize, Cuvântul magazine Prize
• 1997: Flacăra magazine Prize, Ateneu magazine Prize, Tomis magazine Prize, Cuvântul magazine Prize
• 1999: Orbitor's French translation nominee for Prix Union Latine
• 2000: Romanian Writers Association Prize
• 2002: ASPRO Prize, AER Prize
• 2006: Grand Officer of the Cultural Merit Order (Ordinul "Meritul cultural" în grad de mare ofițer), awarded by Romanian Presidency
• 2011: Vilenica Prize
• 2012: International literatur prize "Haus der Kulturen der Welt 2012", Berlin^[14]
• 2013: Spycher – Literary Prize Leuk, Switzerland^[15]
• 2013: Grand Prix of the Novi Sad International Poetry Festival^[16]
• 2014: Best Translated Book Award, shortlisted for Blinding, translated from the Romanian into English by Sean Cotter^[17]
• 2014: Premio Euskadi de Plata to the Best Book of 2014 for Las Bellas Extranjeras (Frumoasele străine), translated from the Romanian into Spanish by Marian Ochoa de Eribe (Editorial Impedimenta)
• 2015: Leipzig Book Award for European Understanding for Blinding^[18]
• 2015: Austrian State Prize for European Literature^[19]
• 2016: Premio Gregor von Rezzori for Blinding^[20]
• 2018: Thomas Mann Prize^[21]
• 2018: Prix Formentor^[22]
• 2022: FIL Award^[23]
• 2023: Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Solenoid^[24]