SELECTED POETRY

Beginning

it’s light out I tell you

there’s still lots more

my beautiful bird

is far away I can see it

flying away again

I love without being loved

Human

to A

I’m at 2130 metres above sea level

in other words I’m sitting at the edge of the world

everything is covered by volcanoes and geysers

spewing steam and sulphuric water

I remember to tell you again how we got here

I turn the rock I point at you

I show you the riverbed full of bacteria

warm and shallow the environment is the same

I hope no changes come this time

no complications cumulations alterations

so we can finally close

the fins of the fish

turning into

limbs

so that no reptiles crawl out later

no feathers growing on some of them

no birds

no miracle of evolution

no human to appear

no you again

let alone mе

Quiet

I’m a little fishie-fish

I was born to

make you happy

I know your secrets

I lie at the foothills

I can see who’s sitting

in the trunk of the tree

a child with its back turned

on which the ants crawl

Parallel Realities

Who planted this land?

Asks the bloodless one I have feelings for

They say my mother and my father

came here after I came to this world

while we were still being born

and they dug the first hole

where they buried her

placenta and my umbilical

cord though everyone

said that was

completely pointless as the land

had long been dead

But these were persistent

people maybe that’s why they gave birth to me

one of the last ones to come out

of another human body

that we called mother

though it could’ve been otherwise

it could’ve been

Child

My mother is not from here

I learned it the hard way

Not through a message document or bird

But through blood – Rh negative

Her ultratransparent pale skin

The two small blue eyes at the two edges of

the moon face the lack of protein in them

the pink veins that never bulged

I remember the nurse slapping her arm

and shouting that’s not normal

How does this blood circulate?

I also remember her feeling ill

whenever we came close to happiness

She vomitted plasm and dreamed

of going backward

But she forgot where the sky was

up or down

She got confused but didn’t stretch her hands forward

There are 15% like her in this world

I’ll have to accept that those

are here real kin

Palefaces with blue hearts

In February 2024, the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation launched an open call for English-speaking translators to join the inaugural edition of the Bulgarian to English Literary Translation Academy. The Academy was designed to connect experienced translators with emerging talents in literary translation, fostering the growth of a new generation skilled in bringing contemporary Bulgarian literature to English-speaking audiences. Over a six-month period, mentors Angela Rodel, Ekaterina Petrova, Izidora Angel, and Traci Speed guided three mentees each, working across genres including fiction, children’s literature, and poetry. By the program’s end, participants had developed substantial translated excerpts to present to publishers, authors, and partners, and to use in applying for translation grants, residencies, and other professional development opportunities. The Academy has also enabled contemporary Bulgarian authors to have significant portions of their work translated, which they can present to literary agents, international publishers, and in applications for global programs. You can find more information about the Academy participants here. The Academy is made possible through the support of the National Culture Fund under the Creation 2023 program and in partnership with Vagabond magazine.