The first book of English poetry Contemporary Literature Press publishes in 2014 has been translated into Romanian by a young student who is in his early twenties. Meeting a poet in his fifties, and a physicist on top of that, was a challenge to this young translator. The Romanian version of Mario Petrucci's love sends itself flowers is Ștefan Mălaimare's debut.

It is a major concern of our publishing house to find and encourage new talent. It is equally our concern to promote the study of langue et civilisation, which is why we very often publish parallel texts.

Last but not least, the English poems we have chosen this time are strikingly European in themes: an Italian family, the atomic catastrophe of Chernobyl... The physicist Mario Petrucci writes a metaphysical poetry which he likes to perform as well.

love sends itself flowers will, we hope, be as much of a challenge to its readers as it was for its young translator, who produced a remarkable Romanian version.

Lidia Vianu