Leo Butnaru (was born in Negureni, Orhei County, in the Republic of Moldova 5 January 1949) is a writer from Moldova and Romania. He holds a degree in journalism and philology from the University of Moldova (1972). He has worked in publishing, as editor and editor-in-chief, at magazines such as, Moldovan Youth, Literature and Art, and Moldova. His first poetry publication was a chapbook, Wing in Light (1976). In 1977, he became a member of the Writers Union of the Soviet Union. In the same year, he is removed from the staff of Moldoval Youth (following his approval of an article regarding M. Kogalniceanu that crossed imperial-communist ideological lines). He is a member of the Romanian Writers Union (1993). He is a founding member of the Moldovan PEN Center. From 1997 to 2005, he was president of the Chisinau branch of the Romanian Writers Union. He is on the board of the Romanian Writers Union.[1][2]
In 2019 some media sources announced that Leo Butnaru has been nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature.[3]