Автобиографии
Amelia Licheva
is a poet and literary critic. She is a professor of literary theory at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. She is the author of numerous theoretical books and the poetry collections “Eye Staring at an Ear” (1992), “The Second Babylonian Library” (1997), “Alphabets” (2002), “My Europes” (2007), “Must Be Seen” (2013), “Beastly Meek” (2017), “The Need for Recycling” (2021). Her poems have been translated into English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Slovak, Croatian, Hungarian, Arabic. Editor-in-Chief of “Literary Gazette”, President of PEN-Bulgaria. Winner of numerous national awards, including “Knight of the Book” of the Bulgarian Book Association, “Hristo G. Danov”, the National Literary Award “Binyo Ivanov” for contribution to the development of Bulgarian poetic syntax (for the poetry collection “Beastly Gentle”) and the National Award “Konstantin Pavlov” for the poetry collection “Need for Recycling”. Program Director of SMLF since 2021.
Georgi Gospodinov
(1968) is a poet and writer – one of the most widely read and translated Bulgarian authors in the world. His books have been published in more than 35 languages. He is the first Bulgarian author nominated and won the prestigious International Booker Prize in 2023 with his novel Time Refuge (translated by Angela Rodel). He is also the winner of the Strega Europeo Prize, the European Angelus Prize, the Jan Michalski Prize, etc.
Natural Novel, his first novel, returns readers to Bulgarian literature and opens the doors to a global audience.
His novel The Physics of Sadness has won a number of international awards. Foreign critics have compared Gospodinov to writers such as Marquez, Borges, Orhan Pamuk, Milan Kundera, and Orwell, and have defined The Physics of Sadness as the Bulgarian One Hundred Years of Solitude. Gospodinov’s books are taught at universities in Europe, Great Britain, the USA, and Argentina.
Georgi Gospodinov is an associate professor of modern Bulgarian literature at the Institute of Literature at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He lives and works in Sofia.
Georgi Konstantinov
was born in 1943 in the city of Pleven. Director of the Publishing House “Plamak Magazine”. He was a member of the Grand National Assembly (1990) and Deputy Minister of Culture (1994). He has published over 35 poetry collections, including: “A Smile is My Capital” (1967), “Illiterate Heart” (1978), “Sociable Solitary” (1982), “I Love You So Far” (1992-2002, 13 editions), “How a Dragon is Born” (in Bulgarian and English, 2018), “A Moment Like Eternity” (2019), “Tree and Bird” (in Bulgarian and Greek, Athens 2021), “Evening Sunflowers” (2023), etc. He has also published satirical works.
He is also the author of fiction books for children and adults. His humorous children’s novel “Tufo the Red-Haired Pirate” has been translated into many European languages. He is also the author of the essay books “A Man for Sharing” (2015) and “Poetry as a Witness” (2019). His poems have been translated into more than 30 languages.
Over 200 of his poems have become famous songs. He is the recipient of the honorary sign “Golden Age” with a necklace from the Ministry of Culture and the Medal of Pontificia – Vatican, presented to him personally by Pope John Paul II, etc.
Honorary citizen of Pleven. Honorary citizen of Sofia.
Honorary president of the Bulgarian P.E.N. Center.
Daria Karapetkova
is a translator from Italian, literary critic, associate professor of translation theory at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. She participates in the management of the master’s program “Translator-editor”. She teaches literary translation and morphosyntax of the Italian language, theory and criticism of translation.
She is the author of the books “Boot in Bulgarian Literary Fashion”, “For Translation” and “La letteratura italiana in Bulgaria. Traduzioni, mode, censura”. Among the authors she has translated are Umberto Eco, Elena Ferrante, Isabella Albrizi, Tiziano Terzani. Winner of several national awards, as well as the Order of the Star of Italy for special merits in the development of bilateral relations and the promotion of Italian culture around the world (a distinction awarded by decision of the President of the Republic of Italy).
Since 2021, he has been a member of the program team of the Sofia International Literary Festival. Member of the Editorial Board of Literary Newspaper and of the Cultural Council of the Cultural Center of Sofia University.
Ivan Landjev
(1986) is a poet and essayist. He graduated from Philosophy and Cultural Studies at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, and since 2015 he has been a doctor in Russian classical literature (his dissertation is on the late Leo Tolstoy). Fulbright scholar, specialized at the University of Chicago (2023). Guest writer at Literarisches Colloquium, Berlin (2022).
Winner of the Grand Prize for Poetry “Orpheus Wreath” (2019), as well as “Southern Spring”, “Veselin Khanchev”, “Vladimir Bashev”. His poems have been translated into 10 languages.
He worked as a screenwriter for famous Bulgarian TV series, and is currently the executive creative director of an advertising agency. He translates from English and Russian, and teaches creative writing.
Books:
“On the inevitable coincidence” (2023)
“You, constant news” (2018)
“Poetics of self-transcendence. Narrative strategies in the late Leo Tolstoy” (2017)
“Wir Mansardenmenschen” (EtaVerlag, Berlin, 2017)
“We according to the attic” (2014)
“Bobby Fischer’s fault” (2010)
Photographer Yannis Manakos
Йордан Ефтимов
is a poet and literary critic, associate professor of theory and history of literature at the New Bulgarian University. He is the author of theoretical books, including “The Refuted Virtue” (2008), “The Double Bottom of the Classics” (2010), and “The Poetics of Consent and Disagreement” (2013), and the poetry collections “Metaphysics of Metaphysics” (1993), “Eleven Native American Tales” (1997), “Africa/Numbers” (1998), “Opera Nigra” (2001), “My Wife Always Says” (2005), “The Heart is Not a Creator” (2013), “Proven Theories, Final Experiments” (2018), and “Before They Wash the Blood” (2022). His poems have been translated into English, German, Polish, Romanian, Serbian, Greek, and Hungarian. Editor of “Literary Newspaper” with interruptions between 1993 and 2016. Winner of national awards for poetry, essays and criticism, including “Southern Spring” (1993), “Tsvetan Stoyanov” (2001), “Hristo G. Danov” (2006), “Ivan Nikolov” (2013), “Hristo Fotev” (2014), “Pencho’s Oak” (2018) and “Ivan Peychev” (2023). Program Director of the New Bulgarian University Publishing House since 2024.
Photo Kosyo Hadzhigenchev.
Palmi Ranchev
(1950) is a poet, writer and playwright. He walks not only the streets of Sofia, but all possible streets as his main occupation. In the last seven years, he has walked the streets of Barcelona most often. His first two books, the poetry collection “Manhattan, Almost an Event” and “Street Games” – short stories and novels, were published almost simultaneously. This was followed by numerous poetry collections: “The Wanderer’s Under-Hat”, “People and Things”, “Such Blue: Visible and Hidden”, “Midnight Man: Biographies”, “Quiet and Forever”, “Hotel Room”, “The Sofia Berlin Wall or About Heroes and Their Music”, “Ragged Flag”, “Lover of Lonely Streets and Deserted Houses”, “In the Gap of the Horizon”, “Up Close to Everything”. His stories have been collected in several collections: “Sunday Lunch”, “Amateurs, Professionals and Other Participants”, “This Eternal Nothing is Accidental”, “Boxers and Passers-by”, “A Little Luck for Later”, “Chance Meetings and Dating”. He has published several novels: “Chaos in the Game of Foosball”, “Anonymous Snipers”, “Direction Sacramento”. Two films have been made based on his stories: “A Little Luck for Later” and “A Trip to the Horizon”. There is a play staged by the radio theater: “I Don’t See You”. He was the editor-in-chief and director of the newspaper “Samurai” – about martial arts, he worked in the magazine “Bulgaria”, he was the author and host of the program “Syujeti” on Military Television. He regularly publishes stories and poems in the main Bulgarian literary newspapers and magazines. He has worked wherever he can provide for his own and his family’s livelihood. He has always been involved in boxing, at the age of 29 he became a deserved coach. He is also interested in martial arts, he has a second dan in taekwondo. Seven of his books have been nominated for the “Helikon” award. He has literary awards for poetry. His most valuable is “Pencho’s Oak”. The Portal Culture award is for the stories in “Tonight is Nothing by Chance”, and with the novel “Chaos in the Game of Football” he won “Peroto”. The collection of short stories “A Little Luck for Later” is among the three best works for Eastern Europe in 2008. It is published in German, the same language in which the initial version of his novel “Direction Sacramento” was also published.
Radoslav Bimbalov
was born in 1973 in Plovdiv, a graduate of the English High School in the city and the University of National and World Economy – Sofia. He is a co-founder of one of the most successful communication companies in Bulgaria – The Smarts Group, a popular analyst of political and social events.
His debut novel “I, the Maniac” (Hermes, 1999) was warmly received by readers, but 23 years followed, in which he participated in general collections, but did not dare to publish his own book – as he himself claims – he was too young to be a writer and should have practiced more.
His second book is a collection of short stories “Mluk” (Siela, 2022) – it became a bestseller for the publishing house and was shortlisted for the most prestigious literary awards in Bulgaria (“The Pen”, “Helikon”, Portal Kultura), won third place in the “Yordan Radichkov National Literary Award”.
His third book – the novel “Ecstasy” (“Siela”, 2023) solidified his place on the literary scene – it was nominated for most literary awards in our country (“The Pen”, “Helikon”, “Golden Lion”, European Prize for Literature, Portal Kultura), and was shortlisted for “Novel of the Year 2023”. In early 2025, “Ecstasy” will also be published in its first translation – in Italy.
His fourth book was released again in the portfolio of Ciela Publishing House in mid-September 2024 under the name “You, My Likeness” and took one of the top spots in the charts of major bookstores.
Roman Kisiov
(b. 1962) is a poet, poetry translator, artist. He graduated from the National Academy of Arts in Sofia with a degree in Painting. He lives and works in Sofia. He is the author of 18 poetry books (10 in Bulgaria and 8 in other countries). His poems have been translated and published in 25 languages around the world. He has participated in a number of prestigious international poetry festivals. He is a member of the Bulgarian PEN Center, an honorary member of the Writers’ Union of Armenia, and a member of the editorial board of the international multilingual magazine for European and Asian poetry, poetic culture and spirituality “KADO”.
Stoyanka Boyanova
is the author of 11 books: poetry, a novel, a collection of short stories, published in Bulgaria. Co-author with Minko Tanev of 4 bilingual books (Bulgarian and English) in Cyberwit.net, India: two with poems from global anthologies and awarded in international competitions, two with haiku – awarded and published in international publications. She participates in over 70 international anthologies in 27 countries with poetry, gogyoshi and haiku. She has edited dictionaries and books.
Zdravka Evtimova
was born in 1959. Her stories have been published in 32 countries around the world. Her story “Blood” is included in an anthology for teaching literature in the junior high school course in schools in the United States and in the high school course in schools in Denmark. Her novels and collections of short stories have been published in the United States, Great Britain, Canada, India, Israel, Iran, China, Greece, France, Italy, Serbia, Slovenia and North Macedonia. In 2019 Zdravka Evtimova wins the “Hristo G. Danov” award for her overall contribution to Bulgarian spirituality.
Aneta Dancheva-Manolova
graduated in journalism and studied Dutch at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. She worked for Bulgarian National Television, is a member of the Netherlands Academy of Literature in Leiden and is the recipient of a high international distinction – the Order of Leopold II for her contribution to the development of our cultural ties with the Kingdom of Belgium. She has translated works by both classical and contemporary Dutch and Flemish authors such as Jan Volkers, J. M. Bischovel, Sees Noteboom, Louis Paul Boon, Hugo Claus, Peter Verhelst, Kuhn Peters, Stefan Hertmans, the philosopher Johan Hosingha, etc.
Dimil Stoilov
Dimitar Iliev Stoilov was born on June 11, 1948 in Plovdiv. He worked as a journalist in various print publications and in two of the largest publishing houses in Bulgaria – “Hr. G. Danov” and “Hermes”. Since 2011 he has lived and worked in Belgium.
He is a member of the Union of Bulgarian Writers, the Union of Bulgarian Journalists and the Bulgarian P.E.N. CENTER.
Books published: 1986 – “Timetable for missed trains”, stories, “Hr. G. Danov” publishing house; 1990 – “Version of infidelity”, novel, “Hr. G. Danov” publishing house; 1998 – “Outrageously charming, predatorily beautiful”, stories, “Hermes” publishing house; 2005 – “A man, delicious to taste”, stories, “Hermes” publishing house; 2010 – “The long-distance runner of love”, novel, “Hermes” publishing house; 2016 – “Innocent women in Brussels”, novel, “Hermes” publishing house; 2018 – “The children of Don Quixote / Belgian and other stories /”, stories, “Lexikon” publishing house.
His stories, translated into German, have won awards in international competitions run by the German publishing house “Literaturpodium” and have been included in collections. His stories have also been translated into English, French and Persian.
Zlatimir Kolarov
is a doctor, professor of rheumatology, writer, screenwriter. Author of over 590 scientific papers, 31 fiction, dramaturgical, journalistic and literary-critical books, 2 scripts for feature films, 18 for documentary and popular science films. Stories have been published in 12 languages, films have been presented in 14 countries. Books have been published in Ukraine, Germany, Albania and Serbia. He has been awarded 62 national and international nominations and awards as a doctor, teacher, writer and screenwriter. Member of the Union of Bulgarian Writers, the Bulgarian PEN Center, the Union of Scientists in Bulgaria, the Union of Bulgarian Filmmakers. Chairman of the Union of Writers-Doctors in Bulgaria “Dimitar Dimov”, Secretary General of the International Union of Writers-Doctors UMEM.
Kristin Dimitrova
(1963, Sofia) is the author of twelve books of poetry, two novels, three collections of short stories and a study on the image of Bulgaria in the English-speaking media 1980-2000. She translates poetry from English. Her books have been published in Great Britain, Ireland, Switzerland, Mexico, India, Macedonia and the Czech Republic. Her short stories and poems have been translated into 38 countries in 29 languages.
Magdalena Kostova-Panaiotova
is a literary critic, professor, doctor of philological sciences, author of 13 scientific books, 3 poetry collections and over 150 articles in specialized periodicals. Author and co-author of 4 textbooks and three encyclopedias – “From A to Z” by “Trud” Publishing House, Three-volume Encyclopedia by the same publishing house and “Heroes of World Literature” by the Academic Publishing House “Marin Drinov”.
She has translated and edited 15 books for “PAN” Publishing House.
Member of the editorial board of the magazine «Another Hemisphere», Moscow.
Editor-in-chief of the journal “Language World”, Scopus
Editor of the journal Foreign Language Studies, Web of science.
Editor of the journal Open Journal Studies -http://centerprode.com/ojsl/ojsl_editorial_team.html
Editor of the journal American International Journal of Humanities and Social Science http://aijhss.cgrd.org/index.php/international-advisory-boardР
Editor of the electronic journal LITERANET,
Winner of the award for literary criticism from the “Southern Spring” competition, for a poetic book of the Bulgarian National Radio, etc.
Margarit Jekov
(Haskovo, 1963) graduated from German philology at Sofia University and theology in Germany. Author of 14 poetry collections, two literary criticism books, two plays and one still unpublished novel. Compiler of collections of selected lyrics by poets Yordan Kovachev, Yanaki Petrov, Georgi Konstantinov, Angel Nikov and Ivan Nikolov, as well as the anthology “Voices from Bulgarian PEN” (2021). Member of the literary circle “Europe” in Kapfenberg, Austria.
Nikolai Tabakov
I was born on 13.11.1956 in the village of Mandritsa, Ivaylovgrad region. I graduated from Bulgarian Philology at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, for almost 26 years I was the owner and manager of the “Anubis” publishing house. I am the author of thirteen books, ten of them novels, three collections of stories and a children’s novel. Two of the books have been translated and published in Serbian, three have been translated and published in Russian and two more have been translated and published in German.
Rene Karabash (Irena Ivanova, 1989)
is a poet, writer, screenwriter and playwright. She is the founder and mentor of the “Zaeshka Dupka” Writers’ Academy, where some of the most prominent poets and writers of Bulgaria teach.
For her novel “Ostaynitsa” Rene received the “Elias Canetti” literary award, a nomination for Novel of the Year from the “13 Centuries of Bulgaria” Fund and the “Peroto” literary award. The novel has been translated into Egypt, France, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia, and in 2025 it is due to be published in Italy, Brazil, Sweden, America, Serbia and Greece, etc.
At the end of 2023, the French translation of her novel “Ostaynitsa” won the French PEN Club Translation Award, in the person of the translator Marie Vrina-Nikolov. The same year, the English translation of the novel, by the translator Isidora Angel, received the Gulf Coast Translation Prize in America.
In 2025, a film adaptation of the novel is coming, scripted by Rene and directed by Kostadin Bonev. The film is a co-production of Bulgaria, Albania, Italy, Romania and Germany.
Rene is also the screenwriter of the upcoming series “The Waves” – a production of BNT. Rene received the Heart of Europe Award for the most original idea for a script, from the Polish National Television.
For her leading role in the film “Godless” (dir. Ralitsa Petrova), she has several film awards for best actress: “Silver Leopard” (Locarno), “Heart of Sarajevo” (Sarajevo), “Aluminum Horse” (Stockholm), “Golden Rose” (Varna).
Photographer Yana Lozeva.
Silvia Choleva
(1959, Sofia) is a writer, publisher and journalist.
Her first book “Old Mirror” is for the samizdat magazine “Most”, written before 1989 by Edvin Sugarev. She has since published six poetry collections: “The Child of the Deaf and Dumb” (1993, Southern Spring Debut Award), “Entrance” (1996), “Carefully” (2001), “Cards” and “Letters” (joint project, 2007), “From Heaven to Earth” (2015), two books of poetic prose: “Departure Return” (1997, 2020), “Winter and Summer” (2001), one novel “Green and Gold” (2010) and a book of short stories “Goshko” (2013). She has staged one play “Come, Lie on Me” and three radio plays broadcast on the Bulgarian National Radio: “The Name, Your Name”, a radio version of “Come, Lie…” and “Emergency Exit”. Her poetry has been translated into various languages.
She is the winner of the National Poetry Award “Ivan Nikolov”, the award “Hr. G. Danov” for the presentation of Bulgarian literature; an honorary sign “Golden Age” – seal of Simeon the Great of the Ministry of Culture, etc.
She works at the Bulgarian National Radio, program “Hristo Botev”, where she hosts a program on culture. She was editor of the magazine for Bulgarian literature “Season” together with the poet Ivan Teofilov, later she was editor-in-chief of “altera” – a magazine for gender, language and culture and editor in “Literaturen Vestnik”. She led a humorous column in the newspaper “Starshel” and book columns in various publications, as well as the columns “Bez pokritty” and “Ot nemto do zemeta” (together with Marin Bodakov) in the program “Biblioteka” on BNT. She taught at Sofia University “St. Kl. Ohridski” and at the New Bulgarian University. Co-writer of the short film “My Mother” directed by Svetla Tsotsorkova, which premiered at the Sofia Film Fest in 2005. In 2012, she founded the DA Poetry Publishing House together with Iglika Vasileva and Kaloyan Ignatovski.
Brief:
Sylvia Choleva (1959, Sofia) is a writer, publisher and journalist. She writes poetry, prose, plays. She is the author of ten books. She works at the Bulgarian National Radio, where she has hosted a cultural program for 20 years. She has been an editor of two magazines, taught at two universities, led book columns, and received several awards. One of the founders of the DA Poetry Publishing House.
Stancho Penchev
was born on February 13, 1962 in Shumen. He graduated in philosophy from Sofia University “Kliment Ohridski”. He has worked for several national television stations. He is the author of 14 books, including four novels, as well as collections of stories, fragments, parables and fairy tales. He is also the author of screenplays and is a director of documentary films. His works have been translated into German, French, English, Czech and Hungarian.
Elisaveta Shapkareva
was born in Sofia. She graduated from Bulgarian Philology at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. She lives and works in her hometown. She has published two books of haiku – “Quiet” (2003) and “At Dusk” (2006) and two with lyrics – “Bird’s Eye” (2008) and “Myrtle Branch” (2020). Her poems have been published in the press and in the anthologies of the Bulgarian Haiku Union: “Rain Seeds. Bulgarian Haiku Poetry” (2001), “The Bird. Bulgarian Haiku Poetry” (2003), “The Rose. European Haiku” (2003), “The Road. World Haiku” (2004), “Mirrors. Bulgarian Haiku” (2005), the bilingual “The City” (2012), the bilingual “Beyond Words” (2018), in the magazine. “Haiku World” and others, in the collection “SMS-POETRY” (2005; 2006), in the anthology “World Haiku” (2005; 2006) and in “Irin Pirin. Almanac for Literature, Art and Social Life” (2006; 2007) and in numerous foreign publications, such as “Haiku Novine”, the bilingual anthology “Más-más csönd / Different Silence”, FROGPOND and others. Author in the magazine “Pictures with Words and Colors” and New Asocial Poetry.
Laureate of the “SMS-Poetry” logo (2006), Third Prize of the International Haiku Competition Melnik Poetry Evenings (2006) and holder of an honorary diploma of the International Haiku Competition Melnik Poetry Evenings (2007), first prize of the International Poetry Competition “Lyric Voices” (2015).
She has participated many times in the “Sofia Autumn Poetry Salon”.
Elisaveta Shapkareva’s haikus have been published in the exhibitions “Autumn Colors”, “Sounds of Autumn” and “Breath of the City”, on the website of the Bulgarian Semiotic Society, on the website Frogpond, Daily Haiga, WHA, NHK World, etc.
She is a member of the Bulgarian Haiku Union, the World Haiku Association, the Bulgarian PEN Center and the Union of Bulgarian Writers.
Boyko Lambovski
is a Bulgarian poet, publicist, translator and journalist. He was born in 1960 in Sofia. He graduated from the French Language School in his hometown, studied psychology at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, and graduated from the A. M. Gorky Literary Institute in Moscow.
He is the author of 9 books of poetry, including “Herald”, “Alain Decadence”, “Criticism of Poetry”, “Autiso”, etc., as well as books of short stories, books for children, and books of journalism. He has translated authors such as Joseph Brodsky, Robert Desnos, Nikolai Gumilyov, etc. He is a laureate of various awards such as “Vladimir Bashev”, “Geo Milev”, the Grand Prize for Literature of Sofia University, an award from the “Culture” portal, the “Valery Petrov” award, etc. Chairman of the Bulgarian “P.E.N. – Center from 2012 to 2019, now he is one of its honorary chairmen.
Hristo Dobrotinov
Born on May 8, 1952 in Veliko Tarnovo. He is a lawyer by education. He has published the following books:
– “The Funeral of the Captain’s Hat” / 1976, ed. “Narodna Mlazed” /, which received the National Award for First Book;
– “Beyond the Snow” / 1981, ed. “Bulgarian Writer” /;
– “Memory of the Resort” / 1985, ed. “Bulgarian Writer” /;
– “Marriage in Sofia” / ed. “Bulgarian Writer”, 1988 /;
– “Game of Conspirators” / 1989, ed. “Hristo G. Danov” /;
– “In Search of the Hollywood Butler” / 2019, ed. “Hermes” /, received the annual prose award for 2020 of the Union of Bulgarian Writers;
– “The Fireflies Will Show You the Way” / 2021, ed. “Hermes” /. Awarded the National Prize “Hristo G. Danov” for prose for 2022.
– “The Rafter”, / 2023, ed. “Hermes” /
His stories have been translated into Russia, Poland, Germany, Turkey.
Member of the Union of Bulgarian Writers since 1988 and of the Bulgarian PEN Center since 2017.
Vladimir Shumelov
(1958, Pernik) is a Bulgarian fiction writer and literary critic. He graduated from the Bulgarian Philology Department of the St. Cyril and Methodius University of Technology (1982). He lives and works in Veliko Tarnovo. One of the organizers of literary life in Veliko Tarnovo over the past few decades. Member of the Bulgarian PEN Center since 2022.
Author of fiction books: “Double” (“Elpis”, V. Tarnovo, 1994; Grand Prize for Debut Book “Southern Spring’95”, Debuts Award of the “Slavs” Foundation), “Between Beckett and Me” (“PAN-VT”, 1998; “Faber”, 2003, V. Tarnovo; national awards “Intellect’98” and “Svetlostruy’99”), “And So On” (“Faber”, V. Tarnovo, 2007), “Whatever Came. Four Letters About Love” (“Faber”, V. Tarnovo, 2014), “Memory Thief” (“Potanikhe”, S., 2019), “The End. A Novel-Singularity” (“Ogledalo”, S., 2021), “Warm Human Point” (“Ogledalo”, S., 2023).
He publishes books with essays and literary criticism: “The Vulnerable” (“Jeanette-45”, Plovdiv, 2004); “The Colored Memories of Sin” (“Faber”, V. Tarnovo, 2009); “Fox in the Henhouse” (“Faber”, V. Tarnovo, 2013); “Pink Floyd. Ellipses” (“Faber”, V. Tarnovo, 2013); “I’ll Wait for the Rainbow” (“Libra Scorpio”, Burgas, 2017), “Eyes Wide Open” (“Ogledalo”, S., 2023).
Ivan Hristov
(1978) is a poet and literary critic. He is the author of four poetry collections published in Bulgaria and six poetry books published abroad, as well as two academic monographs. His poetry has been translated into more than twenty languages. Since 2019, he has been the director of the international program of the Sofia Metaphors poetry festival, and since 2022, he has been an associate professor at the Institute of Literature at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
Velina Minkova
was born in 1974 in Sofia. She graduated from English Philology with a specialization in Creative Writing at the University of California (UCLA) and the School of Translation of Fiction (ETL) in Paris. She is the author of the collection of short stories in English Red Shorts (Kolibri, 2001) and the novel “Report of the Green Amoeba on the Chemical Pencil” (Kolibri, 2015), which was published in France under the title Le Grand Leader Doit Venir Nous Voir (Actes sud, 2018). Her collection of short stories in Bulgarian, Brazilian Bush (Kolibri, 2018), received the special award “Savage Mood” from the Yordan Radichkov National Literary Society. Her collection of short stories from English and Bulgarian into French, Les Shorts Rouges (Hémisphères, 2020), is being translated by her. She lives in Paris.
Photo by Deyan Parushev 
Patricia Nikolova
(1979, Sofia) is a Bulgarian poet, writer, translator, literary and theater critic. She is the author of six books, winner of numerous awards, distinctions and nominations. Her works have been presented in various places in Europe, the USA, South Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. She has been published in all European languages, as well as in Hebrew, Armenian, etc. Her poetry has been included in various international anthologies, including the world anthology UKRAINE DANS NOS COEURS (Paris, 2023).
Aksinia Mihaylova
(1963) is a poet and translator. Author of six poetry books in Bulgarian and three in French. Her poems have been translated into more than 20 languages. She has published books with selected poems in Slovak, Latvian, Romanian, Italian and Arabic. She is the winner of several poetry awards, including “Apollinaire 2014” and “Max Jacob 2020” in France, “Hristo Fotev”, “Miloš Zyapkov”, “Ivan Nikolov” and “Orpheus’ Wreath” in Bulgaria. She is also the winner of two international translation awards – the Annual Prize of the Lithuanian Writers’ Union in 2009 and the Prize named after the Latvian poet Aleksandar Čaks in the same year. She lives and works in Sofia.
Alexandra Ivoylova
is a master of piano at the National Academy of Music “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov”, later a chamber singer. She specialized in Paris. She has solo art and photography exhibitions. She publishes literary, musical, and art criticism. Her works have been translated into various languages. She has published ten books and two CDs. She is a member of the Bulgarian PEN Center, the International Society “Elias Canetti”, the Union of Bulgarian Journalists, the World Haiku Association, Europoesie – UNICEF, etc.
Kiril Lyubomirov Topalov
Born on May 21, 1943 in Sofia. Graduated from Bulgarian Philology at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” in 1968. Professor of Bulgarian Literature, author of articles, studies and monographic research. Writer, author of 13 novels, 18 plays, staged on Bulgarian and foreign theater stages, 3 scripts for full-length feature films. (Two of them – “Be Blessed” and “Don’t Get Angry, Man” – pose for the first time the problem of the fate of single mothers and abandoned children, with the former receiving many prestigious European awards, and the latter being stopped by political censorship during socialism). Latest books – “Sofia Stories” (2021) and “Life by Inevitability. A Memoir Novel” (2023). Translator of prose, poetry and drama from Greek. His novels, plays and stories have been translated into Greek, Polish, Slovak, Arabic, Chinese, Estonian, Romanian, English, French and other languages. Ambassador of Bulgaria to Greece, the Vatican and the Order of Malta. Honorary citizen of Sofia and Athens.
Nadezhda Stoyanova
is a lecturer in Bulgarian literature at the Faculty of Slavic Philology of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. She is the author of the monographs “The Rise of Sunflowers. Bulgarian Literature of the 1920s and 1930s: Experiments with Time” (2015) and “Decorations and Grimaces. Fashion and Modernity in Bulgarian Literature of the 1920s and 1930s” (2022), as well as literary articles, studies and reviews.
Zlatka Timenova
Ilko Dimitrov