Moldova does not occupy a sizeable area on the map, nor does it have a large population, but its population is very diverse in terms of ethnic background, religion, migration history, and its people have faced many hardships due to its eventful history. This diversity is reflected in its colorful literature that includes stories for children, biographical novels, anecdotes, poems, folk tales, stories from the criminal underworld, science fiction, and more. A number of these are also available in English, and you can find below lists that can help you get started reading.

The Library of Congress also has periodicals about the literary life in Moldova, for example these:

• Contrafort : revistă a tinerilor scriitori din Republica Moldova, a periodical of young authors from the Republic of Moldova, and
• Anul Literar that was published by Institutul de Limbė shi Literaturė (Akademii︠a︡ de Shtiint︠s︡e a RSSM).

About languages, alphabets, and spelling

Works of fiction have been published in several languages in Moldova, and in the case of Romanian and Gagauz works, they have been printed both in Cyrillic, and using the Latin alphabet. Most works published between 1945 and 1989 used the Cyrillic alphabet, and these appear in the  catalog of the Library of Congress using the Library's Romanization Table for Russian Cyrillic. As a result, in the Library's catalog, Romanian words, including the names of authors, are not spelled as they are in Romanian using the Latin alphabet. For example, Ion Creangă became Ion Kri︠a︡ngė, and Amintiri din copilărie is spelled Amintirʹ din kopilėrie. If you cannot find an author or a title using Romanian spelling, it might be that the Library of Congress does not have what you are looking for, but it is also possible that the Library's record was created using a different spelling. Similarly, even when a search brings up results, it might not be the complete list of what the Library has. This transliteration table can help you widen your search, and you can always ask for help using our Ask a Librarian service.

Below you can find:

• Examples of works of fiction translated into English. Moldovan authors have contributed to our common artistic heritage with works written in several languages, and a variety of styles and topics are available in the Library in English too.
• Some examples of contemporary literature. This is by no means a complete list. Its intent is to showcase some of the variety to be found, and hopefully inspire curiosity.
• A selection of literary history and criticism about the multiple styles, languages, and periods of literature produced in Moldova. These are mostly in Romanian or in Russian.