The latest issue of Words Without Borders is devoted to contemporary Bulgarian writing, brought to you by director of the Bulgarian National Book Center Svetlozar Zhelev and translator extraordinaire Angela Rodel. They kick off the issue with a baseball-cap worthy-title essay “Making Bulgaria Great Again” where the case is made for culture being worth saving […]
What happens when a stalker, a Russian mobster, a heroin dealer and possibly former terrorist, and a cop who knows his way around the underworld enter the life of a perfectly ordinary and innocent single mom in Tel Aviv? Quite a lot, actually. For the specifics, you’ll have to read “Israel, 2014” by Israeli writer […]
British writer James Hopkin, currently the UNESCO writer-in-residence in Prague, will be reading from his work on Tuesday, Feb 21 at 7pm at the Malá vila Památníku národního písemnictví, which is located in Prague 6 at Pelléova 20. There will be Czech translations done by Lucie Mikolajková that will be read by actor Ivo Šorman. […]
“Milena and I didn’t like dogs. The fierce, powerful creatures in our suburb, Zabjelo, always scared us. We believed they could bite a person to death. But Milena’s death was different. It went roughly like this: …” And so goes the warped twists and turns of Montenegrin writer Ilija Đurović’s short story “Parts of Town“, […]
Two short pieces by Daniil Kharms from the mid-1930’s translated by Alexander Cigale, one about an invasive cuckoo bird among other things, the other miraculously seeming to foreshadow every hipster’s worst nightmare scenario. You can also go back to the last installment of Saturday European Fiction for more Kharms. Read more Saturday European Fiction
The Elizabeth Kostova Foundation (EKF) is holding the 10th annual Sozopol Seminars, with this year’s edition being the first creative nonfiction edition. The program will take place from June 8-12 in the Black Sea town of Sozopol, Bulgaria with a follow-up in Sofia for the events of CapitaLiterature. A truly impressive lineup of lecturers, guests […]
“And so, it once happened that Nikolay Ivanovich found himself in Hotel Europe, in their restaurant. Nikolay Ivanovich sits at his table, and the table over from him is occupied by some foreigners, and they’re gobbling up apples. And that’s when Nikolay Ivanovich said to himself: ‘A curious thing,’ Nikolay Ivanovich said to himself, […]
The 13th annual New Literature from Europe Festival kicks off this week in New York City, running from Dec 7 – 10 and featuring leading European authors, translators, editors for a varied program of events. The recently published Memoirs of a Polar Bear will be presented by its writer and translator (from the German) respectively […]
“The German Casino in Růžová Street, to which Mr. Kopfrkingl had dragged himself with his leg behind him and his body bent forward, had a white marble-covered entrance with three steps. ‘I love white marble-covered entrances with three steps,’ thought Mr. Kopfrkingl and slowly crossed the street to the pavement opposite…” From The Cremator by […]
“Amsterdam, it is always water and houses painted black and white, all windows, with sculpted gables and lace curtains; the black, the white splinter in the water. And so it is always water, dead water, iridescent water and gray water, alleys of water that do not end, canals guarded by dwellings like enormous dominos…” The […]
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