Writer and publisher Jason Sizemore reads “Letter” by Ivo Rafailov. This poem was translated from Bulgarian by Katerina Stoykova-Klemer.

Clip from the North American Premiere of The Season of Delicate Hunger: Anthology of Contemporary Bulgarian Poetry at the Morris Book Shop on January 4th, 2014.

Ivo Rafailov was born on February 25th, 1977 in Bourgas. He holds a degree in cultural studies from St. Kliment Ohridski University in Sofia. He works as a graphic designer. Ivo is the author of two books of poetry, most recently Countable Temptations (2013), and he has received awards for both photography and poetry. Ivo is the co-founder of Frost Press, which has published collections of contemporary American poets in Bulgarian, including Billy Collins, Ted Kooser and Carl Dennis. He lives and works in Sofia.

Born the son of an unemployed coal miner in a tiny Kentucky Appalachian villa named Big Creek (population 400), Jason Sizemore fought his way out of the hills to the big city of Lexington. He attended Transylvania University (real school with its own vampire) and received a degree in computer science. Since 2004, he has owned and operated Apex Publications. He is the editor of five anthologies, a Hugo and Stoker Award loser, an occasional writer, and usually can be found wondering the halls of hotel conventions seeking friends and free food.