Artist Kurt Gohde reads “Time is a Neutron Bomb” by Georgi Gospodinov. This poem was translated by Katerina Stoykova-Klemer.
Clip from the North American premiere of The Season of Delicate Hunger: Anthology of Contemporary Bulgarian Poetry (Accents Publishing).
All of me is see-through,
and the thoughts I share today
have likely been voiced by another.
I’d like to say a single word
which reflects the world
the way a drop reflects the color palette.
I do nothing more than the ant,
walk and carry the seed,
when I see a spring—
drink from its water
when I discover a path—
put up a sign
that the world is passable.
Sometimes it’s so dangerous to get lost.
Even the child knows where she’s going
when running toward the waves
with a bucket in hand,
she carries the sand of time gone by
to build a dream.
–Sasho Serafimov,
translated from the Bulgarian
by Katerina Stoykova-Klemer
The Season of Delicate Hunger
Sasho Serafimov was born on August 30th, 1953 in Dobrich. He holds a degree from Slavic University in Sofia in social pedagogy. He is the author of six poetry books, most recently The Elderly Die at the End of the World, as well as a book of children’s stories, Confused Tales. Sasho’s play, The Teller of Tales, was awarded third place in the Golden Dolphin International Puppet Theatre Festival. He’s married and has a beard.
Death is a black crow on the roof
of every revelation,
and after it
both song and freedom
taste bitter.
–Roza Boyanova,
translated from the Bulgarian
by Katerina Stoykova-Klemer
The Season of Delicate Hunger:
Anthology of Contemporary Bulgarian Poetry
(Accents Publishing)
Two sticks spontaneity,–Elka Vasileva,
translated from Bulgarian by
Katerina Syokova-Klemer
The Season of Delicate Hunger
“Lexicography of a Pig” by Dimiter Kenarov from The Season of Delicate Hunger: Anthology of Contemporary Bulgarian Poetry, read by Christopher McCurry at the Morris book shop.
the one stepping into the future believesthe one who has stepped into the future knows
the taste of this fruit
and the one who doesn’t step shivers here
amidst the icy horror of doubt
–Stoyanka Grudova,
translated from Bulgarian by
Katerina Syokova-Klemer
The Season of Delicate Hunger (2013)
“Cicada” by Vladimir Levchev. Translated from the Bulgarian by Katerina Stoykova-Klemer. Read by Eric Scott Sutherland, who knows a thing or two about cicadas.
From The Season of Delicate Hunger: Anthology of Contemporary Bulgarian Poetry.
Yesterday we went over the books we published in 2014.
Today, we’ll take a look at the poets behind those books.
Lori A. May writes across the genres, road-trips half the year, and drinks copious amounts of coffee. Her writing has appeared in publications such as The Atlantic, Writer’s Digest, Brevity, Midwestern Gothic, and The Writer. Her editorial roles have included working with Kaylie Jones Books (an imprint of Akashic Books), Creative Nonfiction, and other independent presses. She is also the founding editor of Poets’ Quarterly. Lori is a graduate of the Wilkes University MFA program, where she was awarded the Norris Church Mailer Fellowship. She teaches in the University of King’s College creative nonfiction MFA program and is a frequent guest speaker at writing conferences and residencies across North America. Visit her website at www.LoriAMay.com.
And if I just imagine
what I would do, were I
the conscious reptile!—That is to say,
I’d pick the apple,
I wouldn’t hand it over to any ignorant female,
much less to Adam; then
I’d start eating, alone,
bit by bit:
consciousness, knowledge,
awareness.
Ekaterina Yosifova was born on June 4th, 1941 in Kyustendil. She holds a degree in Russian philology from St. Kliment Ohridski University in Sofia, and she has worked as a teacher, journalist, and dramaturg, and has served as Editor-in-Chief of the literary almanac Struma. Ekaterina is the author of 12 books of poetry, most recently This Snake, published in 2012, for which she received the national Ivan Nikolov Award in Bulgaria. Additionally, books of her poetry have been published in translation in Macedonia, Hungary and Slovenia. She has received numerous national and international literary awards, and her poetry has been translated into more than a dozen languages. She lives and works in Sofia.
I stood at the threshold of a room
on the wall facing the door
leaned a large mirror
with a wooden frame
I stood at the threshold
and held in my hand another mirror
and saw
how I was holding a mirror
in my hand and looking at
the mirror from the room and
I was seeing …
then I woke up
–Nikolay Boykov,
translated from the Bulgarian
by Katerina Stoykova-Klemer
The Season of Delicate Hunger:
Anthology of Contemporary Bulgarian Poetry
(Accents Publishing)
Nikolay Boykov was born on January 26th, 1968 in Vidin. He holds a degree in Hungarian philology from Lajos Kossuth University in Debrecen, Hungary. Nikolay has served as an instructor of Hungarian language and literature at St. Kliment Ohridski University in Sofia. He is the author of three books of poetry and two books of prose, most recently The Book of Life (2010). Additionally, he has translated several Hungarian authors into Bulgarian, including The Union Jack by Imre Kertész.