I met Christian Haller two years ago when he came with actress and dancer Monique Schnyder, at the Romanian Literature Museum, a meeting place for the Romanian literary elite. The two were and still are the friends of poet Paul Daian who hosted them for a while. One year later, we enjoyed the special performance of Monique Schnyder during a one-woman-show that got her an award. I knew that Christian was a poet, writer and playwright. However I was not familiar with his writings. I found him on the same spot this year and I discovered that he will be in Romania until September – he is here on a New European College grant. He rented a house on Plantelor Street that he likes very much.
Paul Daian and his trumpet that he uses to scare the few “newbies” at the tables were also in the bar.
Christian is working on a novel with the action set in Romania and this is how he received the grant. This is the normal way things happen for a writer – not the next-to-nothing status Romanian writers ‘”enjoy.” Romanians don’t know how to find the time to write because they usually have a “day job” that keeps them fed and clothed, however taking up most of their time. A writer abroad may not be rich but the state or some foundation offers enough possibilities for research through grants and such, if the project is worthy. For instance if you are a well-known novelist and you need to research your final chapters in Venice you can get a grant or the title “writer-in residence” in Venice for a month, two, even for a whole year. For the Romanian writer this is like manna from heavens. Christian wrote a play that you could read – it’s a bilingual edition – German-Romanian called “Gods’ games.” The play is published by the ALLFA publishing House as part of the GODOT theatre collection and was translated by Mircea Ivanescu. No other play published in this collection seemed better matched with its title. The god Loh and the god Lee are waiting and they are bored because humanity is missing. Lucky for them they receive the occasional visit of a girl… the rest awaits for you inside the covers. The Swiss author along with Monique and a few Romanian poets prepare for September a special, multi-lingual performance. The audiences in Bucharest better get used to such displays because there are investors out there willing to spend their money on something else than football – like literature and fiction.