April 25, 2026 | Saturday | 2:30 p.m.

City Stage

(underground level)   

 

Discussion:

Dystopia in Bulgarian Literature

 

With the participation of:

Georgi Tenev, Dimana Trankova, Petar Dentchev, Radoslav Bimbalov

Moderator:

Nikolay Kolev

 

Until recently, genre fiction was not a preferred choice among Bulgarian writers. What has changed to make us read dystopian novels more and more often? What are the semantic fields that Bulgarian dystopian literature unlocks? What are the global standards by which it compares itself? What compromises does literature make — utopian by its very nature — when it chooses to behave as dystopian?

These and other questions will be addressed in the discussion featuring four well-known Bulgarian writers — Georgi Tenev, Dimana Trankova, Petar Dentchev, and Radoslav Bimbalov, moderated by philosopher, journalist, and university lecturer Nikolay Kolev.

Of course, these questions are merely the starting point for a truly unique and, without a doubt, very intriguing conversation.
Literary Talks Sofia is a festival in whose framework Bulgarian literature plays a very important role; it is discussed seriously and in the context of European and global literary trends. It is only natural that one of the festival’s central events should be a conversation with four Bulgarian writers whose work covers cross-genre forms and literary worlds that portray possible realities with dystopian undertones.

 

More about the writers:

 

Georgi Tenev is a writer, screenwriter, and playwright. He was born in 1969 in Sofia. He graduated from the Constantin-Cyril Philosopher National Gymnasium for Ancient Languages and Cultures and Sofia University, and later studied at the University of Vienna. He is the author of the novels Kristo i svobodnata liubov /Cristo and Free Love/, Partien dom /House of The Praty/, Gospodin M. /Mr. M./, Bulgarski rozi /Bulgarian Roses/, Balkanski ritual /Balkan Ritual/, Rezidencijata /The Residence/, and Atlanticheski ekspres /Atlantic Express/; the short story collection Sveshchena svetlina /Sacred Light/ (awarded a translation grant by the American PEN Center); and Zhenata na pisatelia /The Writer’s Wife/. His latest novel is set to be published very soon.

Dimana Trankova is an archaeologist by education and a journalist out of passion. She is the author of articles on travel, politics, history, and archaeology in Bulgaria. She is the co-author of the documentary books Na Iztok ot Konstantinopol/Puteshtviya v Nepoznata Turtsiya /East of Constantinople: Journeys Through Unknown Turkey/, A Guide to Jewish Bulgaria, Putevoditel za osmanska Bulgaria /A Guide to Ottoman Bulgaria/, and Turtsite v Bulgaria /The Turks in Bulgaria/. She is the editor-in-chief of the bilingual travel magazine Highflights and the magazine Go Greece!. She is a long-time contributor to the English-language magazine Vagabond, Bulgaria’s English Monthly. Usmivkata na Kucheto /The Dog’s Smile/ is her first novel.

Radoslav Bimbalov (born in 1973 in Plovdiv) published his first novel at the age of 25. Az, maniaka /Me, the Maniac/ (published in Bulgarian by the Hermes publishing house in 1998) was received with interest by readers, and although he continued to write articles for various media outlets and publish short stories in anthologies, the author decided not to publish another book of his own over the next 23 years. In his own words — because he wasn’t ready; he still had to get to know people and learn how to write. In 2022, his short story collection Mluk /Shut up/ was published, and it was nominated for the Peroto and Helikon Awards and won the prestigious third place in the Yordan Radichkov National Literary Award competition. According to Bimbalov, Mluk served as a dress rehearsal for Ecstasis, his next book. In 2024, his book Ti, podobie moye /You, My Likeness/ was published, and his latest book, Zid /Wall/, is set to be released very soon.

Petar Denchev is a Bulgarian writer and theater director. He graduated from the Drama Theater Directing program at the Krastyo Sarafov National Academy of Theater and Film Arts in 2010 and completed a master’s in Theater Arts in 2017. Over the years, he has received nominations and awards from various poetry and prose competitions (Razvitie, Svetlostruy, the Veselin Hanchev National Literary Competition, and Ecstasy by Altera magazine). With his novel Tui, kako muzh tselva zhena, koyato obichva /The Way a Man Kisses the Woman He Loves/, he won the Razvitie Competition for new Bulgarian novels in 2007. He later published the short story collection Istorii v minalo vreme /Stories in the Past Tense/ and the novel Tihoto slunce /The Quiet Sun/. His novels Malkiat bog na zemetrasa /The Little God of the Earthquake/ and Prevartane /Rewind/ were nominated for the Helikon Award. His works have been translated into Serbian, Macedonian, Slovenian, German, English, and Farsi. He has staged productions at almost all of the largest theaters in Bulgaria. His productions have been featured at various festivals and forums in Serbia, Romania, Kosovo, and Montenegro. Since 2020, he has been a director at the Stefan Kirov Drama Theater in Sliven.