CIGARETTES UNTIL
TOMORROW
(2024)
Two Lines Press and Cuentero Productions present
“Cigarettes Until Tomorrow,” a collection of Romanian poetry in translation adapted as an audio project.
Along the eastern edge of Europe, Romania’s vibrant poetry scene perches on the Black Sea. With black humor and in cutting, contemporary language, four featured Romanian poets assemble a series of profound moments from their daily lives. Tanks invade while soccer games go down to the last minute; there are lonely cemeteries and urine-soaked sheets and endless Instagram reels. And what results is a stunning portrait of all our lives in the 21st century—the cycles of outrage, boredom, and ecstasy—as we get to see ourselves from an entirely new viewpoint.
The collection “swerves between the poles of kitsch and nostalgia,” as Alina Ştefănescu wrote, “rubbing against them like a skier in giant slalom. I can hear those poles snapping back aright.”
CREDITS
“Cigarettes Until Tomorrow,” a collection of
Romanian Poetry in translation,
published by Two Lines Press
With poems by Moni Stǎnilǎ, Emil-Iulian Sude,
Adela Greceanu, and Anastasia Gavrilovici
Translated by Sean Cotter, Diana Manole,
Monica Cure, and Gabi Reigh
It was adapted, directed, and executive
produced by Camilo Garzón
It was produced by Cuentero Productions
under their client-facing trademark,
Cuentero Traunseúnte Productions™
Two Lines Press is an imprint of the
Center for the Art of Translation,
a nonprofit organization
based in San Francisco, California
CAST
Andreea Coscai
Alex Rotaru
Alexandra Stoica
And Cosmina Dobrota
CREW
Laura Ubaté and Camilo Garzón did creative production, voice direction, audio production, and audio editing
Mara Mărăcinescu and Alina Ştefănescu
did consulting production
Daniel Freeman did the score
The flute and bucium
in the first poem
is by Marius Gagiu
Daniel Murcia did the sound design,
engineering, and mixing
On collaborating with Cuentero, creative partner Two Lines Press says:
“We love what you do! The actors are amazing. It's so cool to have native speakers reading the English. We love the extra layer it gives to the idea of translation. The recording definitely offers more than a straight poetry reading but without overreaching too far into theatrics (though it certainly has moments of drama). The tone feels consistent with the book throughout—moments of bliss, moments of chaos, moments of stillness.”
Cuentero created and adapted the audio story collection and provided creative and voice direction, audio editing, audio production, casting, scoring, sound design, sound engineering, and sound mixing services. This is the first poetry multimedia project under Cuentero’s client-facing banner and trademark:
Cuentero Transeúnte Productions™