Horea Poenar, originally from Cluj-Napoca, Romania, is an associate professor at the Babes-Bolyai University, Romania, where he teaches aesthetics, critical theory, and media studies. He is a collaborator, moderator, anchor, and interviewer of TVR, the Romanian National Television, in addition to being author of four books, a novel, academic articles, essays, and studies on literary and cultural theory, critical thinking, and contemporary art. Horea's latest book published in 2016, The Theory of the Phantom Fish. Ten Studies on Literary Theory, reworks the definitions of theory in relation to politics, the understanding of culture, and current trends in critical theory. Horea has won key awards from prestigious institutions, including the Romanian Writers Union and the Museum of Romanian Literature. He served as a visiting professor between 2012 and 2013 at Arizona State University, and was the director of Echinox cultural journal between 2001 and 2009.