Tag Archives: the season of delicate hunger

“I Had to Be Born in February” by Rossen Karamfilov

I realized
I’m paralyzed
about 240 months ago

That
has never killed me it is
just one part of me about which I know

I don’t know anything and so during one
June day I started walking without thinking
I did it and I was filled with joy like a child

even though I’m too guilty
to be a child if you only knew how
happy I was underneath me there was

water
there was a lot of water
and for a moment the weight was dead

and I was a walking man then
everything became as before
But I prefer

to look at things
from a better angle
Otherwise I’ll collapse

But I won’t …

-Rossen Karamfilov,
translated from the original Bulgarian
by Katerina Stoykova-Klemer
The Season of Delicate Hunger:
Anthology of Contemporary Bulgarian Poetry
(Accents Publishing)

Rossen Karamfilov was born on November 20th, 1992 in Sofia. He is the author of two poetry collections—The Eagle and the Child (2011) and Stereo Silence, which was released in 2013. Rossen currently lives in Plovdiv, where he is studying applied linguistics (German and English) at Paisii Hilendarski University.

“Post Mortem” by Yasen Vasilev

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this cannot be the end
it cannot have no meaning
it cannot not have anything
godot can suck it
absurdity is no longer in fashion
yet we all remain
waiting

–Yasen Vasilev,
translated from Bulgarian
by Katerina Stoykova-Klemer

Yasen Vasilev was born on June 5th, 1988 in Sofia. He has a degree in dramaturgy from the Krastyo Sarafov National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in Sofia. He is the author of the play The Walled-in, as well as two poetry books, most recently Androgyne (2011). He is known for his performances of original work, notably Dirtify/WarX and Bread and Circuses. Yasen has received various literary awards, including the grand prize audience award at the Sofia Poetiki festival. He lives and works in Sofia.

“With the big bed she understands…” by Ivanka Mogilska

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With the big beds she understands
when love ends.
She wakes up and sees—
a back at the other end of the bed.
That’s why she prefers
for them to sleep in a small bed,
covered only with a sheet.

-Ivanka Mogilska,
translated from Bulgarian
by Katerina Stoykova-Klemer
The Season of Delicate Hunger:
Anthology of Contemporary Bulgarian Poetry
(Accents Publishing)

Ivanka Mogilska was born on June 5th, 1981 in Plovdiv. She is the author of two books of poetry. Her first, DNA, won the Southern Spring Award for the best debut book. With her second book, a novel entitled Places to Get Lost In, she participated in the convention of European first-time novelists at the International Book Festival in Budapest in 2008. In 2011, she published her latest poetry book, Otherwise Said. Ivanka works as a copywriter and translator. She currently lives and works in Sofia.

“Letter” by Ivo Rafailov

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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.

“A Fly in the Airplane” by Dimiter Kenarov

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So high up for the first time,
where no fly has ever flown,
and where, if it weren’t for you,
nobody would’ve believed

how innocently you crawl
as if on a casement window
with a view of a forbidden garden,
and perhaps you remember

blackberry jam with cream
and other earthly delights
from your short-lived childhood:
blossoming plums, white acacia,

the buzz in the lazy afternoon
over the old man’s casket,
when you could still hear
the echo from your own flight

and were important enough
to be squashed on the table.
Now you move much faster
than ever; in a single season

you cover several continents
and your chaotic trajectories
are straightened up as direct routes
from point A to point B;

the eyes, those multi-faceted
rubies in the head’s treasury,
are polished to the core
like smooth Plexiglas,

out of which the view
remains one and the same:
an endless sky, dotted by clouds,
incomprehensible road webs.

Which one of your ancestors
has imagined a future like this:
a foldable tray stacked
with vacuumed junk food
and you, inconsolable,
gaunt, with your back turned
to all that, take a sip
from your coffee with sugar,

and again you cling with your feet
to your oval window,
which, trust me, will never
fling open for you.

Little insect with a frail proboscis
and useless, crystal wings—
even Jonah hasn’t felt so lonesome
in the belly of the whale,

and if the plane accidentally
dropped in the middle of the ocean,
only your three-lettered body
would not be flown home.

-Dimiter Kenarov,
translated from Bulgarian by the author
The Season of Delicate Hunger
(Accents Publishing)

Dimiter Kenarov was born on January 25th, 1981 in Sofia. He has studied in the United States at Middlebury College and the University of California Berkeley. He works as a freelance journalist, poet, literary critic, translator and writer. He is the author of two collections of poetry, most recently Apocryphal Animals (2010), as well as a book of translations of selected poems of Elizabeth Bishop. His work has appeared in various English language magazines and newspapers and has been anthologized in The Best American Travel Writing. In his free time, Dimiter swims, snowboards and takes pictures of the world.

“This poem is dedicated to” by Rossen Karamfilov

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James Pfeiffer, poet and former Accents intern, reads “This poem is dedicated to” by Rossen Karamfilov, translated from the Bulgarian by Katerina Stoykova-Klemer. This poem can be found in The Season of Delicate Hunger: Anthology of Contemporary Bulgarian Poetry. This video is from the book’s release at the Morris book shop in Lexington, Kentucky.

“Homecoming” by Krasimir Vardyev

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come back
to the garden of eden
even
the worms
there
grieve
for you

the fruits
there
dream
of your teeth

the lianas
thirst
to embrace
your white
waxy
ribs

at the memory
of your slender
body
the lake
smiles
in waves

the ghost
of your old dog
under the bench
dreams
and twitches

the green moss
under the apple tree
still holds
forms
of bodies

the spiders
heard
you’re coming
they’re knitting
bed sheets
for you

the blossoms
of the trees
fly away
each spring
seeking
your hair

the empty pantry
dreams of
holidays

the great grandchildren
of your first
cat
recount
legends
of people

scattered
in grass and flowers
the beads
think
they are stones

the elastic native
presses you
the legs
start resembling
roots
breathe deeply

-Krasimir Vardyev,
translated from Bulgarian
by Katerina Stoykova-Klemer
The Season of Delicate Hunger
(Accents Publishing)

Krasimir Vardyev was born on May 17th, 1978 in Beloslav. He holds a degree from Kontantin Preslavsky University of Shumen. He has received awards for his poetry and prose, among which is the Southern Spring Award for his debut poetry collection, Curb, in 2001. From 1998 to 2003, he was a co-organizer and participant in the “Street Poetry” campaign. His second poetry book, Symbiosis, was published in 2007. Krasimir lives and works in Sofia.

“Pigeonish” by Petja Heinrich

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Poet Laurie Clewett reads “Pigeonish” by Petja Heinrich. 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 (Accents Publishing) at the Morris book shop in Lexington, Kentucky.

“Chevrolet” by Ivan Hristov

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A white Chevrolet,
year 1990!
He tossed me the keys
and said “Try it.”
I was amazed,
because it wasn’t
that old car from my dad,
who would smack me
on the back of the head
for every mistake.
Four gears?
P—park
R—reverse
N—“neutral” he said,
“like Switzerland”
D—straight ahead
Only gas and brakes!
When I turned the key
the lights even lit up at night.
With that car I toured
the lakes of Wisconsin.
Moccasin Lake,
Storm Lake,
Sunset Lake.
Sometimes I stopped to take pictures
of herds of deer.
Other times I filled up the tank.
I floored the pedal
and discovered America.
A white Chevrolet,
year 1990.
My first car,
even though it really
belonged to Douglas,
my wife’s father.

–Ivan Hristov,
translated from Bulgarian
by Angela Rodel
The Season of Delicate Hunger
(Accents Publishing)

Ivan Hristov was born on February 16th, 1978 in Borovo. He holds a degree in Bulgarian philology from St. Kliment Ohridski University in Sofia and a Ph.D. in Bulgarian Modernism from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, where he currently works as a researcher in the Institute of Literature. His first book of poetry, Farewell to the 19th Century, won the 2002 Southern Spring Award for the best debut book, and his second collection, Bdin, received the 2006 Svetlostrui Prize for poetry from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Ivan lives and works in Sofia.

“Asymmetry” by Roza Boyanova