George Arion
George Arion is a Romanian crime writer. He is also a poet, essayist, librettist and journalist. He is the Chairman of the Flacăra Publications, Chairman of the "Flacăra Prizes" foundation and Chairman of the Romanian Crime Writers’ Club.
His literary debut came in 1966 with the publishing of a collection of poems. But it is in 1983 that his novel-writing carrier really starts, with the publishing of Attack in the Library. Thanks to his first novel, George Arion quickly became known as the initiator of a renewal of the Romanian crime novel. He effectively gave a new impulse to the genre by having a refreshing foundation. He raised the literary standards and moved them away from their mostly propagandist use at the time.
George Arion stands out through an alert rhythm, short phrases, the use of colored language by his characters, a good dose of humour and an extraordinary irony, which are still his trademark. One can recognise the influences of Raymond Chandler, Boileau-Narcejac, San Antonio.
Critical response
- "Thanks to George Arion we finally have a true and native crime novel." - Ov. S. Crohmălniceanu, Literary Romania, 1984.
- "I don’t think there is another character in our contemporary literature capable of competing with Andrei Mladin in popularity. Built seemingly just for fun, this tall and suave man has succeeded… in conquering the hearts of the most varied groups of readers, amounting to actual fights between children and parents, brother and sister, husband and wife, lover and sweetheart on the subject of who has the right to read the book first." Tudorel Urian, Student Life, 28 January 1987.
- "Arion’s crime novels stand out through an alert style, through humour and through the picturesque language of his characters." Mircea Zagi, Marian Papahagi, Aurel Sasu, The Dictionary of Romanian Writers, 1995.
- "George Arion is a virtuoso of crime writing." Dumitru Micu, The History of Romanian Literature from Folklore to Post-Modernism, 2000.
Mystery and Thriller novels
Atac în bibliotecă, 1983.Profesionistul. Țintă în mișcare, 1985.Trucaj, 1986.Pe ce picior dansați?, 1990.Crimele din Barintown, 1995.- In 1996, the complete Andrei Mladin collection was published with the title Detectiv fără voie, reedited in 2008 by Crime Scene Publishing.Nesfârșita zi de ieri, reedited as Șah la rege in 2008Cameleonul , 2001.Anchetele unui detectiv singur, 2003.Spioni în arșiță, 2003.Necuratul din Colga, 2004.Crime sofisticate, 2009.Fortăreața nebunilor, 2011.
- Attack in the Library, 2011, Profusion Crime, LondonSufocare, 2012.
- Cible royale, 2014, Genèse Edition, Paris-BruxellesInsula cărților, 2014, Crime Scene Press.
- Qui veut la peau d'Andreï Mladin ?, 2015, Genèse Edition, Paris-Bruxelles
- Însoțitorul lui Iisus, 2016, Crime Scene Press.Maestrul fricii, 2017, Crime Scene Press.
- La Vodka du Diable, 2017, Genèse Edition, Paris-BruxellesУбиство во библиотеката , 2017, Antolog
- Trimisul special, 2018, Crime Scene Press.Umbrele din Ada Kaleh, 2019, Crime Scene Press.Mâna care închide ochii, 2020, Crime Scene Press.Vizita tinerei doamne, 2024, Crime Scene Press.
Poetry
Copiii lăsați singuri, 1979.- Amintiri din cetatea nimănui, 1980.Traversarea, 1997.Uite cine nu vorbește, poetry for children, 1997.
Literary criticism
Alexandru Philippide sau drama unicității, 1981.- Starting from 2006, George Arion is also responsible for a section entirely devoted to crime novels in the Sunday edition of Jurnalul Național.