An event titled “Balkan Poetry Evenings: The Western Balkans” took place at the “Delta Blues Bar” in Sofia. The organizers presented poetry and prose in Bulgarian translated from Albanian, Serbian, Croatian, and Slovenian.

Levena Filcheva and Lyudmila Mindova served as the main translators. Three journalists from the Bulgarian News Agency, BTA – Magdalena Dimitrova, Simona-Alex Mihaleva, and Tsvetozar Tsakov – also took part.

Poets Hristo Mukhtanov and Ana Tsankova organized the event. They told BTA that they have held literary evenings at the “Delta Blues Bar” since autumn 2019.

They said that, in recent years, they have focused on evenings dedicated to late writers and poets.
“We believe they should not be forgotten,” Tsankova said.

“For the first time, we decided to organize a Balkan-themed evening,” she added.

The two organizers see these evenings not only as cultural events but also as a mission.
“Yes, it may sound idealistic, but we do it because we love literature and believe it matters,” Tsankova said.

“We don’t receive anything material from this. We simply believe these poets should not fade into oblivion. People must read and preserve their history and their people,” she added.

The event featured translations of works by Bosnian authors Gojko Djogo, Marko Tomas, and Drashko Sikimić; Slovenian authors Ales Debeljak and Ivan Cankar; Albanian writer Ismail Kadare; Kosovar authors Besnik Tsamai, Ndriçim Ademaj, and Rexhep Hoti; and Serbian author Branko Ristić.

/a.c/