Silvia Kerim: Romania ★ Author

Silvia Kerim was born in 1931 in Bucharest, Romania. She graduated from the Faculty of French Language and Literature. She made her debut as a journalist in well-known Romanian newspapers such as Contemporanul and Romania Libera. She also worked as a reporter for the prestigious magazines Cinema and The 20th Century. After this, she became the chief editor of the Arts Section of the National Romanian Radio. Kerim was also a delegate producer at the Romanian Film Studios working with famous Romanian directors like Mircea Daneliuc, Alexander Tatos, Mircea Veroiu, Nicholas Corjos, and Sergiu Nicolaescu. She has also worked as chief editor at Animafilm, a Cartoon Film Studio and, thanks to these important experiences, Silvia Kerim also wrote the script and directed a television series for children, Five Magic Moments, which was broadcast by TVR 1 and TVR 2 from 1995 until 1996. She adapted some famous children’s stories, such as Mary Poppins, Sleeping Beauty, The Wizard of OZ, and Gulliver’s Travels, into musical format. The soundtracks for these films were composed by Marius Teicu, a popular Romanian composer. Since 1997, Kerim has been working as an art critic at the weekly magazine Formula As in addition to working on her novels for children.

Silvia Kerim is considered to be the most important living author of fairy tales in Romanian literature, thanks to her amazing imagination and broad cultural horizon. Her untouched belief in the power of the story to fight for the values of “the Good, the Beauty and the Truth” has become her life motto which is present in every literary genre she approaches: story, novel, public speech, and musical shows on theater stages. However, Silvia Kerim’s creation is often strongly marked by the tumultuous history of the twentieth century, for example by the wars, uprisings, and social consequences of the arrival of communism in the Eastern Europe.

Kerim has written a number of prize-winning children’s books, including those issued by The Association of Professional Writers of Romania and The Special Prize of The President of The Romanian Association of Theatre Artist. The Ministry of Culture has also nominated her for the National Award in the Art Category. In 2004, Kerim received a knighthood from the President of Romania with the Cultural Merit Order. The American Biographical Institute also declared her Woman of the Year 2004.