Contemporary Bulgarian Prose 2016
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Contemporary Bulgarian Prose 2016 Contemporary Bulgarian Prose 1 Проектът е реализиран с финансовата подкрепа на Национален фонд Култура. Compilers: Svetlozar Zhelev, Director of the National Book Centre The Advisory Board: Prof. Dr. Amelia Licheva, Prof. Dr. Darin Tenev, Georgi Ivanov, Silva Papazian, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dariya Karapetkova © Design: Damyan Damyanov Editor: Angela Rodel Project account: Ani Hristova Coordinator: Yanislava Yaneva © National Palace of Culture – Congress Centre Sofia 2016 2 Contemporary Bulgarian Prose 2016 Contemporary Bulgarian Prose 3 4 CONTENTS National Palace of Culture (NPC) / 9 Angel IGOV / 52 The Meek The National Book Center / 12 Kostadin KOSTADINOV / 56 Georgi BARDAROV / 13 The Bay of Iphigenia I’m Still Counting the Days Vlado LYUBENOV / 60 Chavdar CENOV / 17 The Lawyer of the Lunatics Deviations in Autumn Velina MINKOFF / 64 Alexander CHAKAROV / 22 The Red and Blue Report of the Green Bloody Tales Amoeba Alexander CHOBANOV / 27 Georgi MISHEV / 69 Quantum Garden Patriarchy Ivan DIMITROV / 31 Miglena NIKOLCHINA / 76 Sofia Duet The Kestrel Anton DONCHEV / 37 Lyuben PETKOV / 81 The Shadow of Alexander the Great Murder Deyan ENEV / 42 Alek POPOV / 85 Grizzly, Maria The Palaveevi Sisters Vasil GEORGIEV / 47 Yanitsa RADEVA / 95 Ex Orbita The Season of Yoana Contemporary Bulgarian Prose 5 Alexander SEKULOV / 99 Sonya TODOROVA / 132 The Tramp and the Sons Adi Landau’s Pearls Yordan SLAVEYKOV / 103 Silvia TOMOVA / 139 The Younger Brother The Printer Lyudmil STANEV / 109 Andrey VELKOV / 144 Not Quite a Christmas Story No Time Left Stefan STEFANOV / 112 Mihail VESHIM / 149 Up&Down Look Back in Laughter Valeri STEFANOV / 118 Vladimir ZAREV / 156 Love Stories from the Library of Babel Eagles’ Bridge Lyudmil TODOROV / 125 The Blackbird Choked on a Cherry Translators ANGELA RODEL IRINA IVANOVA DESSYSLAVA NIKOLOVA Angel Igov Chavdar Cenov Alexander Chobanov Anton Donchev Alexander Chakarov Ivan Dimitrov Valeri Stefanov Deyan Enev Georgi Mishev Vasil Georgiev Miglena Nikolchina KALINA TODOROVA Vlado Lyubenov Lyuben Petkov Alexander Sekulov Yanitsa Radeva Georgi Bardarov Lyudmil Stanev Yordan Slaveikov Kostadin Kostadinov Sonya Todorova Silvia Tomova Stefan Stefanov Mihail Veshim Lyudmil Todorov CHRISTOPHER BUXTON Andrey Velkov VELINA MINKOFF Alek Popov Vladimir Zarev Velina Minkoff 6 Miroslav Borshosh Dear publishers and future friends of Bulgarian literature, It is my pleasure to present to you the catalogue Contemporary Bulgarian Prose 2016. This is our third catalogue, containing 28 of the most established authors and their interesting works. The collection represents a cross-section of what is happening in the field of contemporary Bulgarian prose over the last year. The project is remarkable because it brings together some of the most distinctive authors and books on absolutely equal footing. Since 2015 we have published an annual catalogue of the best books by Bulgarian contemporary writers, recommended by the Centre. It was the first step in our strategy to promote the best of Bulgarian literature. This year we published a new catalogue: Children’s Books from Bulgaria: Contemporary Writers and Artists – the catalogue is a guide, a presentation and an overview of contemporary artists in the field of children’s and adult literature and their works for Bulgarian and foreign readers, publishers and all guests who are interested in our book market. The National Book Centre has a mission to support the publishing, promotion and realization of Bulgarian literature at home and throughout the world. It helps publishers, Contemporary Bulgarian Prose 7 authors and their works to be accessible to everyone. One of our fundamental aims is to support the translation of more and more Bulgarian books into foreign languages. As of now we have supported more than 40 projects, nine of them are translations of the following Bulgarian books: 1. 18% Grey, Zachary Karabashliev, Publishing house: HЕНА СОМ, Croatia. Translator: Ksenija Banovic 2. Mothers, Teodora Dimova, Publishing house: Nakla- datelství Petr Štengl, Czech Republic. Translator: David Bernstein 3. The Dilettante, Tchavdar Moutafov, Publishing house: Editionsle Soupirail, France. Translator: Krassimir Ka- valdjiev 4. The Cem Affair, Vera Mutafchieva, Publishing house: Sandorf Publishing, Croatia. Translator: Ksenija Banovic 5. Alcibiades the Great, Vera Mutafchieva, Publishing house: Sandorf Publishing, Croatia. Translator: Ksenija Banovic 6. Always the Night, Todor Todorov, Publishing house: Gröbenwahn Verlag Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Translator: Elvira Bormann-Nassonowa 7. All Turned Moon, Georgi Gospodinov, Publishing house: Geopoetika Publishing, Serbia. Translator: Maria Giovanna Stojadinovic 8. Concerto for a Sentence, Emiliya Dvoryanova, Publishing house: Dalkey Archive Press, UK. Translator: Elitza Kotzeva 9. Insanity, Kalin Terzijski Publishing house: INK PRESS, Germany. Translator: Viktoria Dimitrova Popova Miroslav Borshosh Executive Director National Palace of Culture – Congress Centre Sofia 8 THE NATIONAL PALACE OF CULTURE (NPC) – THE LARGEST MULTIFUNCTIONAL COMPLEX IN SOUTHEAST EUROPE The National Palace of Culture (NPC) was opened in 1981 on the occasion of the 1300th anniversary of the Bulgarian state. The architects of the main building are Alexander Barov and Ivan Kanazirev, while Atanas Agura is the architect behind the surrounding areas. During the 1990s, immediately following the change of the political system in the country, NPC lost a significant portion of its property, including infrastructure, commercial areas and car parks. Since 2011, NPC has been restructured into a commercial company, but it remains state property. It is self-sustainable and does not receive any subsidies. The first public financial report of the Palace was released in 2012. A substantial part of the revenues are annually invested in new projects and its own cultural events. The Festival and Congress Centre (FCC) is the Varna branch of NPC. It was founded in 1986 and it is gradually becoming the center of some of the most prestigious events in the field of art and culture. FCC is host to artistic events and festivals, scientific meetings, seminars and more. FCC is the face of Bulgaria when it comes to prestigious international congress organizations such as ICCA, EFCT, AIPC and is included in the only pan-European network of cinemas, Europe Cinema, in the European Union (EU). The total available area in NPC is 123,000 square meters, spread over eight floors, four panoramic terraces and three underground levels. The palace also has 12 multifunctional halls with capacities ranging from 50 to 4,000 seats. Each of the halls was designed with its own signature appearance, maintained to this day. NPC also has 54 more offices and small conference rooms, along with 17,000 square meters of lobbies suitable for exhibition spaces as well as five restaurants and catering companies located within the complex. The building of the Palace has full-service professional conference teams, who aid in preparing and implementing events, as well as sound systems, lighting, booths for simultaneous translation, TVs and recording equipment, stage equipment, sets and exhibition structures. Contemporary Bulgarian Prose 9 A new Press Club was recently opened at NPC, which already ranks among the most desirable venues for events and media events in Sofia. The Press Club is located in a spacious hall with 60 seats, and features modern technology and a team of professionals with vast experience who provide the highest standard of service. These are the main benefits of the Press Club, which make for successful conferences, seminars, trainings, business meetings, lectures and presentations. One additional new space in the building of the Palace is the „New Theatre – NPC,“ which features an auditorium with 160 seats. The new theater space in Sofia was opened on March 9, 2015, and offers the audience provocative performances of various genres. Interesting chamber performances by state and municipal theaters, performances of private troupes, debuts of young artists are also regular features in the program. During intermissions, the audience can enjoy a glass of wine, while in the lobby guests can find a library filled with dramaturgy. Every Saturday and Sunday children can enjoy puppet shows. Annually, NPC is host to over 300 events such as international conventions, political forums, business conferences, scientific symposiums, music and film festivals, concerts, dance performances, theatre, exhibitions and fairs. There are more than one million visitors per year. Prominent performers on NPC’s stages have included the Bolshoi Theatre, Teatro alla Scala, S. M. Kirov Academic Leningrad Theater of Opera and Ballet, London Symphony Orchestra, St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna State Opera, Royal Swedish Ballet, the British Royal Ballet, Spanish National Ballet, conductors such as Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, David Giménez Carreras, Emil Tabakov, Rossen Milanov, Naiden Todorov, Metodi Matakiev, guest performers and groups such as Andrea Bocelli, José Carreras, Nikolay Gayrov, Gena Dimitrov, Montserrat Caballé, Uriah Heep, Mezzoforte, Al Bano and Romina Power, Omara Portuondo, Ibrahim Ferrer and Buena Vista Social Club, Sting, Paco de Lucía, Chris de Burgh, Joe Cocker, James Brown, Goran Bregovic, Anna Tomova-Sintova, Mark Knopfler, Giya Kancheli, Yuri Bashmet, The Mystery of Bulgarian Voices, Hugh Laurie and others, dance and show