Beyond These Walls (Special Edition‪)‬

This collection is a curated package of “news you can feel,” ten essays, profiles and narratives that tell important stories from today’s Romania, stories that illuminate present day struggles with minority rights, inclusive education, immigration, and parenting. They were all published in Decât o Revistă (DoR), an independent nonfiction quarterly magazine. DoR began in 2009 as a platform for narrative journalism and personal essays that would investigate, describe and engage the Romanian cultural, social and economic zeitgeist, and tell its stories with precision, mastery, and heart.

The aim of the pieces in this collection, most of which were published in 2012 and 2013, is to present large societal issues through the lens of the individual story, making them relatable and understandable. All good stories follow a character as he comes face to face with a problem, which he struggles to overcome. The struggle changes him, even if the outcome was successful or not. This is the definition of good narrative, and we strongly believe narrative is a tool that can create community. 

Maybe it can even change hearts and minds.