Fund the Translation of My Short Stories Into English

Dear friends,

In the last decade, writing has become a very important, if not crucial, part of my life. In the last four years, four of my books have been published in Bulgaria by one of the most prestigious publishing houses, FAMA – a collection of short stories and novellas (At the End the Author Dies), a collection of theatre plays, a collection of poetry (Requiem), and, most recently, a second collection of short stories (A Portrait of a Man Without a Body and Soul). At the End the Author Dies was nominated for the prestigious Helicon Literary Prize, and my play The Promise is currently in its second season at one of Bulgaria’s leading theatres, Sfumato.

Therefore, I am really happy to announce that after years of active work as a writer in Bulgaria, there is now interest in my works being translated into English by one of the leading Bulgarian to English translators in the world, Izidora Angel.

Izidora Angel is a Bulgarian-born writer and literary translator in Chicago. She has translated Rene Karabash, Yordanka Beleva, Nataliya Deleva and Hristo Karastoyanov. Recently, she was awarded a translation fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and was the recipient of the Gulf Coast Prize in Translation. Izidora's translations, essays and interviews have been featured in Best Literary Translations 2024, Astra Magazine, Words Without Borders, Electric Literature, and elsewhere. Her writing has been recognized by English PEN, Art Omi, Bread Loaf, and by the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation. I am thrilled and honored to have Izidora as the first translator of my works.

A Portrait of a Man Without a Body and Soul contains twelve short stories, each one completely unique in theme and style. In these stories you will be able to read about:

A prostitute who decides to take on the role of Mother Teresa at the most inopportune time possible... Piano lessons that turn out to be anything but piano lessons... A meeting between two strangers in a strange restaurant with the strange plan to kill God... A young man who refuses to roll the Sisyphean boulder... A father who one day takes his son to the biggest bookstore in the county, and from that moment on, the boy’s life takes a surreal path... A few overheard conversations on the line for a performance of Hamlet in New York’s Central Park... A church service in which there is no difference between a love affair and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ... A writer who makes an incredible effort to convince his wife that he does NOT intend to kill himself... A young girl’s visit to the home of an elderly man with the intention of a “farewell performance”... A boy who goes through Hell over a pocket watch... How to write a story without a first sentence...

I would like to thank each and every one of you in advance for your support, whether it be financial or not. And if you are unable to get directly involved in my campaign, sharing it with your friends would be equally as important to me. Thank you again, and I hope I will see you very soon at my next book readings, this time in English.