‘The Wooden Tongue Speaks’

Honest Publishing is pleased to announce its latest publication by emerging talent, Romanian poet and author, Bogdan Tiganov.

‘The Wooden Tongue Speaks’ is the revised edition of a collection of short stories and poetry set in post-Ceauşescu and post-Cold War Romania.

The book takes readers on a journey through the author’s home town of Braila in the east of the country, where social, religious and political issues are explored through an array of colourful characters and narratives focusing on the newly, supposedly liberated world.

Originally released in 2008, the newly revised edition features brand new short stories and a new introduction from the author. Himself an immigrant, moving to the UK aged just 11 with his family, the author has already established a fan base in both the US and UK exile community.

The author told Honest Publishing how he aims to build on this success with the help of Honest Publishing to bring his unique brand of stories and poems to a wider audience:

“The success of the first edition has been a very humbling experience; I’ve received warm praise from a great variety of fans from all over the world and I can’t wait to give more people the chance to access my work.”

In Tiganov’s work, story text is purposely broken into individual lines – usually only seen in poetry – to persuade readers to pause and think about what they are reading, as the author explains:

“I wish to encourage people to slow down and to reflect on what they are reading. It’s a hurried world. Often there is little time for anything worthwhile.”

One of the book’s main focus is on immigration and the search for a better life from an Eastern European perspective – an issue that’s become somewhat of a political hot potato in the UK and around the western world in general.

Unlike many other depictions of immigration woe, the book offers a more rounded view of the subject: the opportunities and the pitfalls, the pains suffered, the euphoric hope and optimism, the naivety and the greed.

The book has gained plaudits for its frank and often exposing warts-and-all look at Romanian life, and its dark undercurrent of wit that cuts to the very heart of the country’s culture.

‘The Wooden Tongue Speaks’ will be available from Autumn 2010.