Lightwall takes its title from the angled casements built to reflect sunlight into basement apartments in Bucharest—an image that echoes Ursu’s ability to shed new light on both the unfamiliar and the mundane. This collection deals extensively with the subjects of home, language, and meaning, and explores Romania’s new relationship with both Europe and the United States in the post-Communist era. One section is filled with inspiration from her time at Bucknell University, which complements another section on “the spiritual trials of the Balkans.” The middle section contains a lengthy cycle focused on the sufferings of Ovid, along with poems about the pains of people unable to travel due to economic reasons.
 
For more information about Ursu see her collection Goldsmith Market, also published by Zephyr Press.
 
Sean Cotter is the translator of many works of Romanian literature, and Professor of Literature and Translation Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas. His translation of Mircea Cărtărescu’s Solenoid (Deep Vellum, 2022) was awarded the Dublin Literary Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Romanian Cultural Institute prize for best translation of the year. Other books have won or been short-listed for numerous other awards. In addition to Lightwall, Cotter has translated Kaddish, by Radu Vancu (2026), and Goldsmith Market, also by Liliana Ursu (2009), for Zephyr Press.