BBulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov, 56, won last year’s International Booker Prize (along with translator Angela Rodel) for his dystopian comedy. time shelter, about an innovative dementia clinic that recreates the past. his previous novels, physics of sadnessThe unconventional coming-of-age story, which draws on Greek mythology and the history of communist Europe, will be published for the first time in the UK alongside his 80-page memoir. story smuggler. He lives in Sofia, Bulgaria.
What explains the fragmented nature of your storytelling style?
I know it’s not an easy kind of writing. I’ve always written stories on the edge of expectations. I’ve been collecting rejection messages from publishers apologizing for not accepting my work because it wasn’t linear enough. But a novel doesn’t have to be a train moving from point A to point B, it can diverge just like our thoughts. I have readers in Bulgaria who have been following my novels since the 1990s, so I don’t know if my novels will seem that stylistically radical. physics of sadnessThe book, which has traveled to more than 20 languages and countries, took almost a decade to reach British readers.
How did the novel begin life?
The scene shows a young boy sitting in a darkening room in the late 70’s, feeling abandoned.parallel [that the book draws] An encounter with the Minotaur of Greek mythology unravels a strange, vast and anarchic tale of the 20th century. In some ways, this story is deeply connected to the theme of memory that surfaces in the film. time shelter.
why story smuggleris subtitled “A Very Short Memoir,” but is it really that short? Totalitarian ideology requires a monumental memory of monumental things. I believe that it is important to cultivate memory in the opposite direction: toward the perishable and the mortal.
Both books mention young people’s interest in sex scenes on page 28. Mario Puzo novel godfather …
People forget that under totalitarian regimes there was not only a lack of goods and civil rights, but also a lack of eroticism. This page, along with passages from some rare classical texts, was part of a catalog of eroticism embraced by adolescence under socialism. My Spanish translator emailed me to say that I had purchased the Spanish version. godfather I tried to quote that passage in her translation, but it wasn’t there. It was simply deleted by Franco’s censors. As it turned out, our shy Bulgarian socialism was more open than the Francoist censorship. Today, Spanish readers can read that missing page. godfatherThanks for the translation of r physics of sadness From Bulgarian. interesting.
What is Bulgaria like as a place to write?
For me, this is a place where stories that are rarely told, due to the culture of silence from the communist era when it was safer not to say what you think, live. My first serious publication coincided with his post-1989 years, filled with a carnival-like energy and sense of community.Although it’s been a bit lost over the years since then, the International Booker Prize [win] I encourage the writers here that if you tell your story in your own language, it will reach others.
Please tell us about another Bulgarian novelist who deserves attention.
Joanna Elmi is a young author whose debut works include: made of guilt, a film about childhood trauma during Bulgaria’s transition to democracy, will be released in the UK soon. Four novellas by Georgi Markov, who moved to London in the late 1960s and was murdered on Waterloo Bridge by Bulgarian and Russian intelligence in the so-called “Bulgarian Umbrella” incident, will also be translated. He should be better known to British readers as a writer.
Where and how do you write it?
I wrote my last two novels in a month or so of space and time in Bulgaria and various other places. [on writing residencies in Europe and the US]. Solitude helps. I started writing poems on the backs of bus tickets. This is good for teaching brevity. The poetry I still write is in a form that doesn’t require me to stay in my room for long periods of time. But if you carry your notebook with you, you can make it your own room, whether it’s in a cafe or on a bench. That’s how I sketch novels. my first, nature novel [published in translation in the US in 2005]maintained the structure of such notes.
Name your favorite memoir.
I remember: By Joe Brainard and Georges Perec.
what are you reading now?
I love reading old books.That’s how it is these days. Odyssey. My father’s recent passing obviously changed my focus. Although this book is often read as an adventure, it is also the story of a son’s search for his missing father. I also like non-fiction: gardener’s handbook, advice for amateur beekeepers, things like that. I’m not a beekeeper yet, but maybe someday I will be.
of famous bulgarian soccer players Hristo Stoichkov We compared your wins with his at International Booker ballon d’or …
Angela and I enjoyed it. He was one of the first to bless us. So were many other famous athletes and actors here. People took this award very personally, since in Bulgaria there are not many opportunities to celebrate in public. It’s great to celebrate the success of a book like this. Who knows, but maybe this is an indication that literature still means a lot here, or at least as important as soccer.
physics of sadnessTranslated by Angela Rodel and published by W&N (£9.99). In order to support guardian and observer Order your copy at guardianbookshop.com.Shipping charges may apply
