Issue 17

In 2004, Englishman Edward Vick, head of the German-based translation company EVS that also has offices in Bulgaria, created the Vick Foundation to support Bulgarian literature.

The novel of the year award is just one part of the initiative designed to give writers a chance to see their work published in English. In the beginning, Bulgarians were sceptical. Three years later, however, the Vick Prize has become a prestigious award for prose.

More's the pity most of the acquired habits mentioned don't travel well. I was reminded of that at a Christmas reunion back home when I was nodding, apparently negatively, as in incredulously or cynically, when friends were telling stories. That and the slow, deliberate conversation style acquired from speaking to others in English as a second language makes those in New York suspect some terminal brain damage has come from the heat they feel we're getting too much of here.

When he founded MTM GRUP 11 years ago, Manel Riera knew what he wanted to do: help small communities develop. At that time, the Autonomous Community of Catalunya was like Bulgaria: politicians couldn't make longterm plans and ordinary people couldn't turn their dreams into profitable businesses. Riera knew he could help. A lawyer and expert in business and public administration, he had extensive experience counselling Catalunya's administrative, construction and environmental ministers.

At the carnival in Rio you'll go Ah!, that's certain, while in Venice you'll go Uhm! when you meet the mysterious ladies behind Neo-Baroque masks.

Instead of Ipanema chicks, however, at the masquerade in Bulgaria you'll be confronted by wild, prancing kukeri, or mummers, with cowbells tied to their belts and horns on their heads. However, the sexual charge of the mummers' games is stronger than in Rio or Venice – because it is much more overt.

Anarchy in the empire

How did the Eastern Question turn into the Eastern Crisis? The answer is complicated, but the seriousness of the problem was clear by 1875.

Are you a Hitler aficionado hoping to impress your fellow travellers with some authentic neo-Nazi decorations? Or are you nostalgic for the Iron Curtain era when Brezhnev and other ageing cronies ran the show from the Kremlin? Then you'll like Sofia's antique market.