Doina Ruști’s short fiction comprises several hundred texts published in literary journals, newspapers, anthologies, school textbooks, and volumes, in Romanian and in translation. It includes short stories and novellas, experimental prose, urban fiction, and texts adapted for film, forming a broad and diverse body of work.
From realism and the fantastic to narrative experiment, urban legend, and fairy tale, these texts create a coherent territory, organized here by series and publication contexts.
“Short fiction was my first love. In the 1980s, if you didn’t write short fiction, you were nothing—the novel mattered less. From the very beginning I searched for different forms, and many of my early texts are experimental. I have always believed in a ‘folder-literature’, in motion, capable of offering a different facet of the story with each reading—a construction that rarely produces epigones.
I described this kind of writing in the novel The Ghost in the Mill and explored it directly in stories such as SIGCHLD, fork() and sleep(), a text about connections between people and generations, built from intersecting perspectives. For me, no story is independent or definitive.”
— Doina Ruști
Cristian translated \| adapted for film \| Cannes
The Hand of Bill Clinton American anthology \| published \| reviewed
The Truancy translated \| internationally published
SIGCHLD, fork() and sleep() experiment \| experimental prose
Cinematograful din mall adapted for film
The Treacherous Shadow of a Love published \| adapted for film
35 Minutes Later published \| adapted for film
Cream Truffles translated \| unpublished
Țâțe anthology \| stage adaptation (Radu Afrim)
The Lover translated \| published in an American journal
Texts gathered in short fiction volumes, ranging from narratives inspired by Phanariot Bucharest to puzzle-like constructions, where stories interconnect through subtle threads, recurring characters, and hidden continuities.
Depravatul din Gorgani
Ciudățenii amoroase din Bucureștiul fanariot
Cămașa în carouri și alte 10 întâmplări din București (narrative puzzle)
The stories included in textbooks, school curricula, reading lists, and teaching materials, and used in the study of contemporary literature, are not numerous, but they have generated many discussions. The story Platanos was later turned into a novel at the request of students, after a decade in which it became one of the best-known texts in contemporary Romanian literature.
The Blue Forest
The Ghost in the Mill
An Afternoon with Aunt Viki
Several of her short stories have been adapted for film. The films can be viewed here. Among them, Cristian premiered at Cannes and was selected for multiple festivals.
Cristian, 35 Minutes Later, Apartment 26, The Swindle, Cinematograful din mall
Anonima, in Femei, bărbați și faptele lor
Găbițu, in Retoversiuni
Cocrișel, in Când viitorul era mic
Herr, in Treisprezece
Secretul, in Antologia Echinox
Kant and Max, in PEN95 Romania
Visul spiridușului, in Cel mai mult și mai mult
Over several years, Doina Ruști published a weekly short story in her blog hosted by Adevărul. Some of these texts were later included in the volumes Ciudățenii amoroase din Bucureștiul fanariot and Depravatul din Gorgani.
Harta destrăbălării published in English and Arabic
Many of Doina Ruști’s stories are set in Bucharest and the Balkan world, capturing the city’s mythic dimension. Most can be found on her website
A recent project by Doina Ruști, which began with the story
2018–2026
The God of Love
, Ficțiunea, 2026
The Wife, Ficțiunea, 2023
The Headscarf, Ficțiunea, 2021
The Secret Door, Opt motive, 2020
Beyond Events, Iocan, 2018
2010–2016
European Union, in How We Love, Vellant, 2016
The Lost Militiaman, in Writers at the Police Station, Polirom, 2016
The Scabby Forest, Ramuri, 2014
The Visit, România literară, 2013
The Black Fiat, Viața românească, 2013
Prince Avolo, in Who’s Afraid of the Computer?, Arthur, 2013
Trattoria Amore, Catchy, 2012
The Crypts of DNA, Ziarul financiar, 2012
Lost Details, in Contemporary Romanian Literature, Echinox anthology, 2011
How Cici Bezergheanu’s Ennui Began, Bucureștiul Cultural, 2011
Provincial Shop, Obiectiv Cultural, 2011
The Red Whistle, Timpul, 2011
The Topaz Earrings, Bucureștii Vechi și Noi, 2011
Năltărogul, Bucureștii Vechi și Noi, 2011
Apartment 26, Timpul, 2011
Mrs. Glodeanu’s Long-Awaited Hour, Revista 22, 2010
The Devil in Love, Revista la plic, 2010
The Message in the Bottle, Mnemosyning / Triade, 2010
Noon of a Murderous Manaf, România literară, 2010
The Sprite from Batiște Street, Luceafărul de dimineață, 2010
Beyond the Purple Gate, in What’s the Deal with Reading?, Art, 2010
2004–2009
The Winner, Convorbiri literare, 2009
Martsara’s Gift, in Bookătăria de texte, 2009
The Lock and the Key, România literară, 2008
My Uncle, the Postman, Mozaicul, 2008
Near St. Silvestru Church, Convorbiri literare, 2006
Lulu, Vatra, 2005
The Message, Viața Românească, 2004
Mastichinus, Adevărul — year unknown
The Museum of Manuscripts, Opt motive — year unknown
