Moldovan writes work on migration issue

“Each person who has left has a story of incredible drama,” says writer Claudia Partole. Inspired by the destinies of the Diaspora, Claudia Partole gave life to several volumes, but Totentanz or The Life of One Night is the book she wrote on her knees, with tears in her eyes, as she confessed in an interview for MOLDPRES.

The author was set to conclude the topic of migration by diagnosing the phenomenon through a test of resilience, an ordeal that most nations and countries undergo.

The book, Totentanz or The Life of One Night, was written during moments of deep emotions and reflections. Claudia Partole wanted to explain her own experience related to migration and the exodus of her people from home.

“It's the book I wrote on my knees, some pages I cried over. Initially, I wanted to explain to myself this event of our people, this fleeing from home. I wanted to understand whether what is happening is something natural and, after we go through this wandering, how we will look when we return home, who will we become...”

The book was born from a prototype character, a friend who was swept away by the wave of migration.

“I already had the prototype character – a friend who also let herself be carried by the wave, but she did not withstand it. he outland and illness broke her... I dedicated the book to her. It's Silvia Andriuță, a very good journalist...”

To better understand this phenomenon, the author listened to stories of those who experienced migration and ruled to undergo this process herself, spending two months in Austria.

“Where I stopped in Austria, I wrote this book. I wrote at night. I sent my writings to a colleague who was also far from home. She was also the one who encouraged me to give life to those notes. But I needed a structure for the book, to wrap it in a formula, and I found it by encapsulating the message within a single night...”

The book was successful not only in Romania. but also in Italy. The author had meetings with readers in Turin, Brescia, and Venice, and the novel was translated into Italian. The Italian version was published in Venice and the launch took place last year.

“The most impressive moment for me was when, arriving in Rome for a meeting with our women, I was asked when and where in Italy I worked. They didn't believe it was my first time there. Many situations I intuited when writing the book later turned out to be true.”

Claudia Partole is a writer and journalist from Moldova, known for her works that address themes related to migration, identity and the destinies of the Diaspora. Among her most important works, there are The Life of One Night or Totentanz, Straniera (Foreigner), which explores the impact of migration on individuals and communities, and The Journey of a Dream, a work that analyzes desires and the struggle to fulfill an ideal.