Paralel

Paralel follows a Romanian family as they build a life abroad. Mihai writes but earns little. His wife enjoys her new job, which gives the family a good income. Their young daughter turns walks through their new city into tales. She fills nearby woods with witches and parks with magic. Mud near the flats becomes swamps, home to ogres or egrets.

This work of fiction draws on Mihai Buzea’s own family life. It explores migration, memory and the sense of who we are. The family learns which problems it can solve and which it must accept. Yet Mihai struggles to sleep despite their apparent ease. He tries to make a new home while piecing together his past. Answers to his questions emerge, though he cannot control them.

Buzea was born in 1971 and lives in Brussels. He has taught, sold insurance and worked as a reporter at Cațavencii. His other jobs include translation, childcare, dog walking and work as a handyman. He has also been a waiter, night guard and Santa Claus. In the 1990s, he traded goods in Kraków, Istanbul and Prague. Later, he did unskilled work in Budapest, Paris and Lyon, and wrote advertising copy in Bucharest. After January 2014, he moved to London and trained as an arborist.