Elizabeth Kostova Foundation Issue 30 | July 2013

IN THIS ISSUE:

Krastan Dyankov Translation Award Contest Contest for Contemporary Bulgarian Writers, UK Books from the Contest of Elizabeth Kostova Foundation and Open Letter Books, US More Bulgarian Books into English Language Faculty and Fellows from the Sozopol Fiction Seminars

KRASTAN DYANKOV TRANSLATION AWARD CONTEST

Annual Krastan Dyankov Translation Award:

The Krastan Dyankov Translation Award of Elizabeth Kostova Foundation is a prize given annually for an outstanding translation of a contemporary novel of high literary quality from English into Bulgarian. The original English edition of the book must have been published after 1980, whereas the translation in Bulgarian must have appeared between 1 January 2012 and 30 September 2013. Every literary translator whose translation meets the award criteria can be nominated, regardless of citizenship. Publishers, literary critics, translators, and institutions focused on the specialization of literary translation, can take part in the nominating process. A nominee can make up to three nominations. In order to participate, please fill in the nomination form. Deadline for sending nominations by email to [email protected] is 30 September 2013.

Full details on the current call in Bulgarian language are available here.

Special One-Time Award by Aleko Dyankov:

On 10 November 2013, Krastan Dyankov would have become 80 years old. On this occasion, his son Aleko Dyankov, a journalist and translator from German, gives a special one-time award for the best translation of a certain song by Bob Dylan. The song is called "Desolation Row" and was released in 1965, as last track from the album "Highway 61 Revisited". To be considered for this award, please send the translation of the song in Bulgarian, and a short biography (up to 300 words) to [email protected] by 30 September 2013. The song lyrics in English is available here.

Full details on the special one-time award in Bulgarian language are available here.

CONTEST FOR CONTEMPORARY BULGARIAN WRITERS, UK

Together with Peter Owen Publishers:

The Elizabeth Kostova Foundation is pleased to announce a contest for publication of a contemporary Bulgarian novel in English language in the United Kingdom. The contest is for authors of contemporary Bulgarian literature. Each applicant must have at least one novel published in . Each applicant must submit a translated in English excerpt from a novel which has originally been published in Bulgarian. Each applicant can submit only one work. The international review panel will include Susan Curtis-Kojakovic, director of Istros Books, one of the UK partners of the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation. The final decision will be with Peter Owen Publishers.

In order to apply, an applicant must complete 1) an application form (in Bulgarian) and prepare the following materials (in English): 2) professional biography (written in narrative form, not CV style; 300 words maximum); 3) synopsis of the submitted novel (1 500 words maximum); 4) a translated in English excerpt from a novel which has originally been published in Bulgarian: 30 standard pages (1 800 characters per page, including gaps). Application deadline: the above materials must be sent by email to [email protected] due to 30 September 2013.

Full details on the contest in Bulgarian language are available here.

BOOKS FROM THE CONTEST OF ELIZABETH KOSTOVA FOUNDATION AND OPEN LETTER BOOKS, US

Albena Stambolova: The novel "Everything Happens as It Does", winner of the 2012 contest for writers of the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation and Open Letter Books, will be available on the American book market in November, 2013. The official date of publication is 19 November 2013 but the novel can be pre-ordered online here. The book was translated from Bulgarian into English by Olga Nikolova.

Angel Igov: The novel "A Short Tale of Shame" by Angel Igov, winner of the 2011 contest for writers of the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation and Open Letter Books, was published in the United States in May, 2013. A recent review of the American edition of the book is available here. The novel is available for purchase here.

Milen Ruskov: The novel "Thrown into Nature" by Milen Ruskov, winner of the 2010 contest for writers of the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation and Open Letter Books, came out in the United States in November, 2011. The novel is available for purchase here. The premiere of the play based on the novel "Eminence" by Milen Ruskov will take place on 10 September 2013, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, within the festival "A Stage on a Crossroad".

Zachary Karabashliev: The novel "18% Gray" by Zachary Karabashliev, winner of the 2011 contest for writers of the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation and Open Letter Books, appeared in the United States in May, 2013. A recent interview with the author is available here. The book can be purchased with a special discount here.

MORE BULGARIAN BOOKS INTO ENGLISH LANGUAGE

The Elizabeth Kostova Foundation is pleased to announce that two other Bulgarian books are forthcoming in English language. The novel "Tobacco" by Dimitar Dimov will be published in English by Haute Culture Books. The novel "Nine Rabbits" by Virginia Zaharieva will be published by the American Black Baloon Publishing in April, 2014. In 2012, "Nine Rabbits" came out in the United Kingdom as a result of a contest organized by the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation and Istros Books. Both projects will take place without the financial support of the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation but thanks to the professional contacts established by the foundation and its employees.

FACULTY AND FELLOWS FROM THE SOZOPOL FICTION SEMINARS

Faculty:

Georgi Gospodinov (BG, 2009) In 2014, "Physics of Sorrow", the latest novel by Georgi Gospodinov, which earlier this year won the 2013 Bulgarian Novel of the Year Award of the National Endowment Fund "13 Centuries Bulgaria", will be published in the United States by Open Letter Books. Recently, its translator, Angela Rodel, won a grant for its translation by the American National Endowment for the Arts. The results were announced on the website of the organization on 23 July 2013. The novel, translated in Italian by Giuseppe Dell’Agata, was published in Italy by Voland under the title "Fisica della malinconia" (Voland, Italy, 2013). The rights to the novel are sold for Austria, Germany, UK, , Serbia. The most recent book by Georgi Gospodinov, a collection of essays and stories entitled "Invisible Crises", came out in February, 2013, by Janet 45 Print and Publishing. It entered the top 10 ranking for bestselling books in Bulgaria.

Kristin Dimitrova (BG, 2010) Kristin Dimitrova’s novel "Sabazius" was published in Belarus by "Neman Magazine" and Romania by Ex Ponto Publishing House. Her poetry collection "The Cardplayer’s Morning" came out in Czech Republic by Vetrne Mlyny. Short stories by her were published in Germany by the magazines "Merkur" and "Grenzenlos", in Poland by "Podroz za nieznajoma" and in Turkey by "Dunyanin". Poems by Kristin Dimitrova were included in the anthology "At the End of the World", edited by Tsvetanka Elenkova and translated by Jonathan Dunne, which came out in Bristol, UK. Her poems were also published by the Czech magazines "TVAR" and "iLiteratura". Her latest poetry collection, "The Garden of Expectations and the Opposite Door", was presented at the international poetry festival "Les 5 sens de l’ecriture" in Paris, France. She also attended literary festivals in Israel, Armenia and Turkey.

Fellows:

Eireene Nealand (US, 2008) "Shadows and Doubts", a short play by Eireene Nealand, was published by the poetry press Eohippus Labs. Recently, her poem "To Sandy Florian" appeared in "Sidebrow". Eireene Nealand, Aurora Brackett, a 2013 Sozopol Fiction Seminars fellow, and Charles Conley, a 2010 Sozopol Fiction Seminars fellow, have gathered work for an exhibit in Horazdovice, Czech Republic, called "Fables for Arnost". It is in honor of their former teacher Arnost Lustig, who they have worked with as a part of the Prague Summer Programs.

Garrard Conly (US, 2012) "Signs and Wonders", a memoir by Garrard Conly about his experience at the camp Love in Action, will be released by Riverhead next year.

Garth Greenwell (US, 2012) After four years in Sofia, Garth Greenwell is returning to the States to do an MFA in fiction at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where he will be an Arts Fellow. He has new essays coming out in "West Branch" and the "Iowa Review", and has recently started writing a regular books column for the LGBT news and culture website "Towleroad".

Kelly Luce (US, 2010) Kelly Luce has recently published fiction and poetry in "The ", "FIELD", and the "New England Review". Her debut collection of stories, "Three Scenarios in Which Hana Sasaki Grows a Tail", will be released October 1, 2013, from A Strange Object.

Lee Romer (US, 2011) The novel "The Flight of the Lesser Kestrel" by Lee Romer was recently named a finalist for the James Jones First Novel Contest (winners to be announced in September).

Mariko Nagai (US, 2008) Mariko Nagai received International Residency for Writers at HALD Fellowship from the Danish Center for Writers and Translators (2013). In 2012, her creative nonfiction chapbook "Instructions for the Living" was published by Word Palace Press. In the same year, she received residency fellowships from: Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts (US), Sangam House (India) and Ventspils International Writers and Translators' House (Latvia).

Paul Vidich (US, 2010) Paul Vidich has been accepted and will be attending the 2013 Bread Loaf Writers Conference in August studying with Charles Baxter, Antonya Nelson, and Robert Boswell.

Petja Heinrich (BG, 2011) Petja Heinrich and friends from Bulgaria, started publishing the small, independent literary magazine "NO POEZIA". For poetry, of course. It is issued twice a year and welcomes experiments "with" and "into" language. Open and curious, the magazine would be glad to acquire text submissions and gain support by the numerous friends and followers of the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation. The first issue was published in the beginning of this summer and has already earned Bulgarian readers across the world. Guest editor of the first issue was Betti Fayon, a 2008 Sozopol Fiction Seminars fellow. "NO POEZIA" enriches the literary space in Bulgaria due to the fact that it is the only one literary magazine for poetry in the country right now.

Rita Ciresi (US, 2013) "Bring Back My Body to Me", an e-novella by Rita Ciresi, is available on Kindle, Nook, and iBooks. The author explains how and why she wrote a comic novel about cancer in "The Truth About Cancer: In the Fictional Waiting Room of My Novel, Bring Back My Body to Me", "Reconstruction" , vol. 13, No. 1. Her flash creative nonfiction "Lady Saints" was published in "Religions 2013: Writers and Critics on Loss, Love, and the Supernatural", 4(2).

Steven Wingate (US, 2009) Steven Wingate’s chapbook of prose poems, "The Birth of Trigonometry in the Bones of Olduvai", is coming out in October from Finishing Line Press (check out the cover and blurbs here). It is available for pre-order here.

Travis Holland (US, 2008) "Planet of Fear", a short story by Travis Holland, will be included in the upcoming Fall 2013 edition of "Ploughshares", edited by Peter Ho Davies.

Zdravka Evtimova (BG, 2010) In July 2013, "Endless July", a collection of short stories by Zdravka Evtimova, was published in Greek by Paraksenes Meres. It is the first book from the foreign authors series of the publishing house. In June 2013, her novella "Daughter Again" was published in the United Stated by All Things That Matter Press. In 2012, her collection of short stories "Time to Mow and Other Stories" came out in the United States by the same publisher. A review of the book by the American literary critic Mary Clark is available here. Zdravka Evtimova’s short story "My Encounter with 2012", published in the Sunday literary supplement of the Chinese "Wenhui Daily", was also included in the anthology "Best from the Pages of Wenhui". The story was translated from English into Chinese by the well-known Chinese cultural figure Hu Peihua. Zdravka Evtimova’s short story "Blood of a Mole" won the Nadji Naaman literary contest in the category for a complete work (Beirut, Lebanon). 1632 participants from 56 countries submitted their works to the contest.

ELIZABETH KOSTOVA FOUNDATION www.ekf.bg

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