In the personalities of the two great contemporary Bulgarian literary figures, one can glimpse more than individual temperaments. They embody two enduring archetypes of human – and specifically Bulgarian – behavior: on one side, the pursuit of absolute correctness, the anxious…

I suppose many of you have heard that now-iconic Beckett quote: Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. The fact that I’m beginning to reflect on this particular theme is, of course, no coincidence. Failure as theory and failure as reality are two…

„Hello,“ said someone behind him, and he nearly slipped off the seat of the worn, spinning chair – his faithful comrade in the endless battle with words. He turned slowly, cursing the pain in his neck that no longer allowed faster movements. The blurred figure across from him…

It begins in a drowsy provincial town — Prespan, somewhere deep in 1980s Bulgaria — at a moment when history quietly forgets its manners. The so-called “Revival Process” is in full swing, and neighbour turns against neighbour in a fog of fear, confusion, and officially…