cyrlitera domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/sofialit/staging.sofialitag.com/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6121wp-cerber domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/sofialit/staging.sofialitag.com/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6121Children’s Books, 95 pages, 2002
A favorite title for generations of children in Bulgaria who grew up reading the little dog’s captivating letters. As of today, the book is included in the mandatory literature program for primary school students. Letters from a Dachshund has been a bestseller for more than 20 years already. The book contains the charming and exciting stories, told by a puppy who is sent to the countryside for the summer holiday. He writes letters to his human friend to tell him adventures and curious events from his life far from home. Funny, empathetic and full of love, this narrative teaches children how to react naturally when facing the challenges of a new environment and the inevitable process of growing up. The book has been beautifully illustrated by Kostadin Kostadinov.
World rights available
Novel, 410 pages, 1967
The Case of Cem tells a straightforward tale: upon the death of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror in 1481, his eldest son Bayezid takes the throne. Discontented factions within the Ottoman army urge Mehmed’s second son Cem, a well-educated and experienced soldier, to oppose his brother’s ascension and to suggest the two split the empire. Bayezid refuses, setting off a ruthless power struggle. Cem is forced into long years of exile and finds himself essentially a hostage, a pawn for European powers as they try to slow the Ottoman Empire’s expansion. Cem dies in Neapoli in 1495 under mysterious circumstances.
The story is presented as a series of depositions by historical figures before a court, bringing medieval history and modern “courtroom drama” together in a way that is extremely exper- imental for Bulgarian literature of the time. The one character who never speaks directly to the court is Cem himself – he remains silent. The closest we get to Cem is through the Persian poet Saadi, Cem’s companion and erstwhile lover. Saadi is hands- down the most sympathetic character in the book, leading to wonder how Mutafchieva managed to get such positive queer representation past the communist censors of that era.
Rights sold: Croatian (Sandorf), Worldwide English (Sandorf Passage), Slovenian (Založba Goga)
English sample translation available
Novel, 520 pages, 2019
A confessional life story – every bit as wild, entertaining and absurd as its inspiration. A story about a colorful character, an excellent scammer who has become the spokesman оf a generation, having lived on both sides of the Transition – the last years of Socialism in Bulgaria with all its absurdities, humiliations, amusements and all sorts of illegal schemes – underground gambling, currency exchange scams and countless tricks, mastered to perfection, for making easy money in hard times. An adventurer with his own life philosophy who is ready to hurl himself into any new undertaking, Chekmo does not hesitate to travel to East Berlin only days after the fall of the Berlin Wall, where new affairs await him.
– Angela Rodel
World rights available
English sample translation available
This collection comprises 18 short stories as on the surface the narratives are deceptively straightforward: mostly female narrators are recollecting a memory of a great-grandmother, a lost love, a deceased husband, a childhood event. Beleva is a master of language as she focuses on individual words, even letters and elevates them from their day-to-day use. Many of the stories deal quite literally and directly with words, with the power and importance of words: missed or misspelled, accurate or wrong words. These stories are deeply rooted in tradition, yet with the universal theme of love: for a child, for a dog, for a teacher, for those who existed in our periphery, lost love, love shared until death. Often, Beleva leaves much more unsaid and in doing so she opens spaces for the reader to plant something of their own. The collection received the Yordan Radichkov national short story award in 2022.
– Yana Ellis
World rights available
English sample translations available
A teenage boy starts his life anew at a Catholic boarding school in the city of Halle, Germany while his father
is a fellow at the famous Martin-Luther-University.
During the turbulent decade of the 90s, Bulgaria was not the place to offer bright international perspectives, so learning
a foreign language in a natural environment seemed like the best decision a university professor could take for his son.
A touching story about the adventures and difficulties of a youngster far from home, about love and loneliness, that gradually reveals many answers to adulthood trauma. A story about learning to dream and fight one’s battles in a foreign language. The fascinating adventure of a young, rebellious soul.
World rights available
English sample translation available
Vulcan is a novel of multiple storylines coming together to build an image of Bulgaria’s surrealist and fantastic present, from within and from without. Ultimately, it is also a dream seen by Klaus Schimmelhoff, a demented former pop-art celebrity with Alzheimer, now mostly forgotten and living in his penthouse studio with his Bulgarian nurse Magda. Magda’s daughter, suffering from a bizzare fantastic disease, encounters an elderly businessman whose latest ambition is to produce green energy out of cow dung. That’s how it all starts to develop into a sadly ironic and humoristic tale, depicting contemporary society and all absurd dimensions of the human existence.
World rights available
English sample translation available
From the standpoint of literature, death has always been an important and particularly challenging topic. The Breaking of Samsara is a collection that is immaculate in its conception and exquisite in its style. The stories differ in theme and texture, but never fail to surprise.
Elena Alexieva is without a doubt one of the most emblematic contemporary Bulgarian authors.
Request a Reading Sample ]]>A short novel with a great punch about a particular custom that is still popular among rural Albanian women: adopting a male identity when the elder of the clan is killed or dies.
A wonderful and deeply moving book about love, filial debt and the choices we are sometimes destined to make against our will or desire. A tale depicting deeply rooted patriarchal traditions, a tale about doing all in one’s powers to please their parents. A novel for the inevitable paths of destiny that lead us to unimaginable places. Currently a movie based on the title is being made with Italian, Romanian and Albanian participation.
Right sold: French (Belleville Editions), Polish (Wydawnictwo Poznanskie), Arabic (Sefsafa Publishing), Macedonian (Vostok Publishing), Bosnian (Buybook)
Full French and English translations available
Novel, 345 pages, 2021, cover design by Lyuba Haleva
In Along the Tracks Nevena Mitropolitska masterfully intertwines three important narrative lines. The first one is historical and it touches upon the cultural dialogue between ethnic Bulgarians and Jews in pre-WW2 Bulgaria, focusing on the myth around the so-called “saving of the Bulgarian Jews”. The second story line deals with the immigrant’s experience in present-day Canada. The third is intimately connected to the second – and it examines the issue of teenage bullying, based on differences in ethnicity and cultural background. The novel speaks with the voices of three generations of women: a grandmother, her daughter and granddaughter. In November 2022 Along the Tracks received the Peroto national award for Modern Bulgarian Fiction. In December 2022 the book was nominated for the National Readers’ Helikon award.
Rights sold: Macedonian (Chudna Shuma)
English sample translation available
Novel, 295 pages, 2022, cover design by Hristo Gochev
Sanctuary for People and Wolves takes place in Radomir, more precisely in its most deprived neighborhood Staro Selo — Evtimova’s Bulgarian Macondo. Radomir is a small town in Bulgaria where high levels of crime rule its citizens’ day-to-day life. Unemployment, fear of burglaries, and of losing one’s job are pivotal points in everybody’s life. The overarching theme of the novel is the classic opposition of good and evil, as well as the power of love. The authenticity of the characters, actions and their behavior weave a multidimensional tapestry of life. However, it is not the plot that is leading in this narrative, but the images. The images carry Evtimova’s signature style — with magical realism intertwined with the harsh realities of
life, sometimes radiant, sometimes gloomy, highly poetic yet mundane, but always accurate and highly impressive.
– Yana Ellis
Rights sold: Albanian (Fan Noli), English (Héloïse Press)
English sample translation available