Other goodies in the June issue:
- Lots of soccer stories – it’s the month of Euro 2008 after all – told by the likes of Gheorghe Hagi, Ilie Dumitrescu, Rica Raducanu and more.
- A stunning profile of a 16-year-old boy who dreams of one day being a great player.
- A trip around the world in a camper alongside the lovely family of Dan and Marilena Pouzet Oprean.
- Photos and words from the dreamy land of Cuba.
- Six-word stories told by four trendy advertising guys.
- and much much more.

Other great stories in this issue, include:
- Looking for Cristian Mungiu. An moving article on the director’s past year, and the toll the success of 4, 3, 2 has taken on him.
- Electoral season is upon us. Esquire marks the occasion with 14 pages of mayor-centered stories and photographs.
- The Romanian Stradivarius and the violin player that brings it to life.
- A good year for climber David Neacsu.
- A funny joke told by VJ Elena.

And more good stuff. You can download the table of contents in PDF, here.

The cover of this special What I’ve Learned issue is graced by actor, director, writer and producer Florin Piersic Jr., a man who chose to go through life at his own pace – although many believe he went slow and failed to show any accomplishments thus far. In this story, I argue his time to shine has come.

Download the cover in PDF format.

You can dowload the table of contents pages – seen above – here.

Other goodies in issue #6:

• Wisdom and advice from the likes of Al Pacino, Petre Roman, Nadia Comăneci, Gheorghe Dinică, Dustin Hoffman and Leonard Doroftei.
• A portrait of a journalist in prison.
• A story on the generation of children left home by parents working abroad.
• A stunning novella by award-winning author Philip Ó Ceallaigh.
• Great fun with actor Andi Vasluianu.
• An experiment involving watching television at night for one week. What’s on at 3 AM?
• And much much more – including Hilary Swank’s long legs and tips on ordering a martini.

* Designed by the team of Raymond Bobar and Catalina Zlotea.

PS: Seen anything you liked in Esquire? Tell us via e-mail: esquire@sanomahearst.ro.

Of course it does. It’s a piece by A.O. Scott after all.

I did my own version of this for CS Monitor in December — but it barely registers on the radar compared to what the NY Times did.

I also wrote a little about why Scott’s story works as a piece of journalism (in Romanian).

That said, I give you A scrie (it means To write). The blog is in the roughest form possible (let’s call it a beta of betas), with nothing set in place. It will hopefully find a form, a design and a basic structure in the next few weeks – but it will be mainly a vehicle to discuss non-fiction writing and the process by which such writing comes about. It might also showcase some of my students’s work and ideas/strategies from other working reporters (probably people I work with on putting out Esquire). It’ll feature stuff like this. Yes, it’ll be in Romanian.

Wish me luck and read me – if language is not a barrier.

PS: Owlspotting will keep going.

But back to the snow:

An image from behind the apartment building.

Shot from the balcony. Pretty white out there.

Out front, people are trying to dig out their cars.

Good luck with that.

PS: Happy New Year!
PS2: For a few years now I’ve paid attention to the first track that I hear in a new year. This year, courtesy of a TV jingle, it was Nicole’s Whatever U Like. Oh boy.

Esquire #4 is also my first glossy magazine cover story (the preview below is the opening spread). I always loved the first months on the staff of a newspaper – that slow progression towards getting your byline on A1. With magazines the joy isn’t as personal, but it’s still exciting. The story on Bucur is 10 pages long and it tells the story of a 30-year-old man who knows what he wants from his professional and personal life (as well as from the media). The photos were shot by Cosmin Bumbut.

Below are the two pages of contents. Click the thumbnails to see the larger version. For a better and closer view at the contents, download the PDF.

Other goodies in issue #4:
- Andrei Gheorghe is one mean Santa
- Malvina tells a joke
- The terrors of the Pitesti prison
- The children of the ‘89 revolution
- Igu’s nostalgia and LaTrecut.ro
- Norman Mailer’s last profile
- Radu Paraschivescu on soccer
- Halle Berry writes on Halle Berry
- and much much more (including hot drinks, the obituaries of 2007, free biblical advice, cars and the way to the elusive haircut).

* Designed by the team of Raymond Bobar and Catalina Zlotea.

PS: Seen anything you liked in Esquire? Tell us via e-mail: esquire@sanomahearst.ro

The largest piece of real-estate in issue #3 is superb collection – reported and written locally – of personal tales describing human experiences ranging from exhaustion to fear to bliss to love. It’s Esquire’s Romania first annual “What it feels like…” and among the things you’ll learn by reading these 16 pages is:
- what it feels like to play basketball for 80 hours
- what it feels like to be dumped by a girl when you’re 14
- what it feels like to be a sports play-by-play man
- what it feels like to be a blind tourist in Romania
- and many more.

I have done some writing of my own for issue #3, namely a feature on a wonderful group of enthusiastic guys who are working their butt off to put together an American football team in Bucharest (opening spread pictured below). They are the Bucharest Warriors and we’re devoting eight pages to their story. The photos were shot by my friend, the hard-working genius Andrei Pungovschi (see his blog for some of the shots).

Below are the two pages of contents. Click the thumbnails to see the larger version.

Other goodies in issue #3: Seven Romanian photographers pose for their own cameras in a stunning pictorial. Cristian Patrasconiu explains UDMR’s problems. And General Hari-Bucur Marcu offers some insight on Romania’s defense strategy. Hint: there is none. And feel free to stare at the stunning Dana Rogoz.

* Designed by the team of Raymond Bobar and Catalina Zlotea.

PS: Seen anything you liked in the last issue of Esquire? Tell us via e-mail: esquire /at/ sanomahearst /dot/ ro

Actually, I hope I’ll be teaching. The lovely folks at the Bucharest Center for Independent Journalism have given me the chance to teach a course in long-form writing. We’re calling it Narrative Journalism, although I mean that in the broadest sense of the word: journalism that includes elements of narrative storytelling.

The “hope” part has to do with the fact that the class needs 12 to 15 people before it kicks off. I’m positive we’ll get the numbers we need, but still a little nervous. Teaching is something I’ve wanted very much to do upon my return to Romania. My lack of experience in teaching is balanced by my enthusiasm, which I often manage enough off to get others to care about storytelling. Which ultimately is what this class will be about: how do we go about finding and telling stories.

I think that a group of students would have a lot of fun in my class – we’d exchange ideas, talk about writing strategies and, hopefully, do those heartfelt and true stories that Romanian journalism lacks.

If you can read Romanian, an outline of what I plan to teach in the course in here.

For those interested, you can find details on signing up here.

I’m not one to brag, but you’ll find that the second issue is more local, more diverse and more vividly illustrated than number one. And I’m very happy about that. My part in this effort consisted mostly of a personal essay on my family. This form of journalism–one that I treasure immensely–is something that I hope will stir readers and writers alike. It’s not so much writing on the self but reporting on the self, a much more arduous and interesting process. I got my idea when I found some rejection letters that my grandfather received from Romanian newspapers back in the 1950s. It seems he wanted to write for them. I set out to investigate this and… as the story says… ended up finding something completely different.

The opening spread on my story looks like this:

Below is a sneak preview of the cover and the summary pages — yes, Robert Downey Jr. looks awesome. And the story on him is a riot!

Other fun stuff in issue #2: Seven professors step in front of the camera. Iosif Viehmann, a prominent speleologist, isolates himself in a cave for 10 days. Bradut figures out Romanian stereotypes. Cristian Ghinea tears into the myth of young people saving politics. As a bonus, Vasluianu offers an opinion. And more.

* Design by (the magnificent) Raymond Bobar.