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Readers of Europe 2023 - Bulgarian recommendation
- 5 July 2023
- Reading suggestion
- gsclibrary
Recommendation by the Permanent Representation of Bulgaria to the EU
‘Пътуване по посока на сянката : роман’, by Iana Boukova
This is a story about storytelling.
About the sparks of imagination that spring from the writer. How these tales can mix and merge, often in the most minute manner possible.
“Пътуване по посока на сянката (Traveling in the Direction of the Shadow)” is formed around eight main characters, each fully developed with backstories, motivations, inner fears, and desires.
There is a woman capable of falling in love with everyone and a subjugated girl seeking revenge, a lisping murderer who can speak effortlessly in his dreams, a cursed dice-player, and a land-bound Odysseus who refuses to come home.
Each story is connected. Sewn together fragmentedly, forcing the reader to think how the threads link them. Stories of death and love, of cruelty and mercy.
Boukova is an elegant writer. She exhibits an extraordinary ability to describe ‘ordinary’ things vividly. Her language is precise, and the text is infused with metaphors in which the reader can wallow and temporarily lose themselves.
A beautiful and painful read. A book to be read and reread, again and again.
Iana Boukova is a Bulgarian poet and novelist. She is the author of the novel “Пътуване по посока на сянката (Traveling in the Direction of the Shadow)”, two collections of short stories, and four books of poetry, including “Notes of the Phantom Woman” (2018), which received the prestigious Ivan Nikolov Literary Prize for Best Poetry Book and simultaneously came out in Athens under the title “Drapetomania”. Her poems and stories have been translated into numerous languages. Boukova lives between Sofia and Athens, where she is a member of the platform Greek Poetry Now and of the editorial board of FRMK, a biannual journal on poetry, poetics, and visual arts.
For those looking to unearth other Bulgarian literary gems, discover more via Eureka, the online catalogue of the Council libraries.
What is Readers of Europe?
The Council Library and the permanent representations to the EU have once again combined forces to feed your literary habit, with the fourth instalment of our annual Readers of Europe initiative.
The permanent representations to the EU have been invited to recommend a book from their country to read over the summer.
The theme for this year’s campaign is ‘female authors’, the idea being that every permanent representation selects a book by a female author from their country. The genre is up to the permanent representation - it could be a work by an up-and-coming author or a quintessential graphic novel, a collection from a renowned poet or an under-appreciated fantasy.
Join us as we dive into a genre-spanning list. From Hungarian poetry to Lithuanian historical fiction, Croatian family sagas to Irish short stories, there is something for everyone.
The Council Library reading room is open on Monday to Friday from 12.30 to 15.30. The Info Desk operates during office hours from Monday to Friday.
If you are a student or researcher, you are welcome to study at the Council Library.
