Public Republic

The Season of Delicate Hunger is a 334-page collection of contemporary Bulgarian poetry, containing 197 translations of works by 32 Bulgarian authors. All of these authors are alive, writing and actively participating in the Bulgarian poetry scene. They represent a diversity of talent, ranging in age from 72 to 21, with each at a unique stage of his or her career. This book has been edited by Katerina Stoykova-Klemer, poet and translator living in the USA.

What Others Say About The Season of Delicate Hunger

“The Season of Delicate Hunger offers enough engaging poetry to sate one’s appetite for lively songs that amaze and delight in ways academic poetry seems to have lost. Here there’s no reaching for effect, no effort to impress, and no dead weight. Open the book anywhere and find dazzling lines. Movement is key.

Reading this poetry is like ice-skating in a dream: thrilling! There’s enough variety here to satisfy many tastes. Katerina Stoykova-Klemer has assembled a world-class collection of poets, and has thereby infused American poetry with new vitality. The translations never get in the way of the originals; they are crystal, and there’s good hard cider in the glass!”

– Marilyn Kallet, poet, translator; Director, Creative Writing Program, University of Tennessee

“In this ambitious anthology, Katerina Stoykova-Klemer gathers a startlingly wide range of Bulgarian voices. Established writers appear alongside exciting new poets; they gather and sing a story of homes lost and found. The Season of Delicate Hunger performs the vital work of sharing the soul’s language across our fragile borders.”

– Rebecca Gayle Howell, poet, translator of Hagar Before the Occupation / Hagar After the Occupation, poems by Amal al-Jubouri

“The Season of Delicate Hunger brings us more than thirty Bulgarian poets whom the translators and editor successfully make us feel we need to listen to. The anthology is a valuable introduction to a wide variety of voices most of us have never heard before. The book comes as a gift both to international understanding and to American literature.”

– J. Kates, poet, translator, editor of In The Grip of Strange Thoughts: Russian Poetry in a New Era

Authors

Ekaterina Yosifova, Stoyanka Grudova, Kerana Angelova, Elka Vasileva, Roza Boyanova, Sasho Serafimov, Vanya Angelova, Ani Ilkov, Vladimir Levchev, Petar Tchouhov, Valentin Dishev, Mirela Ivanova, Aksinia Mihaylova, Kristin Dimitrova, Bina Kals, Georgi Gospodinov, Nikolay Boykov, Yordan Efftimov, Marin Bodakov, Daniela Mihaleva, Petja Heinrich, Vladislav Hristov, Ivo Rafailov, Yordanka Beleva, Olya Stoyanova, Ivan Hristov, Krasimir Vardyev, Emanuil Vidinski, Dimiter Kenarov, Ivanka Mogilska, Yasen Vasilev, Rossen Karamfilov

From the Introduction

My goal in creating this anthology has been to capture a cross-section of the contemporary life of poetry in Bulgaria and to present it to American readers in a way I hope they’ll find fresh, inspiring and engaging.
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I used four distinct criteria to select the participating authors: 1) the work should appeal to the American reader; 2) the poetry should carry well into English; 3) each poem should be interesting, fresh, unique and representative of the Bulgarian poetic voice; and 4) the words should convey a message about us, the Bulgarians, as poets and as people.
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I’ve translated all poems in this volume, with the exception of those of three of the authors: Zoya Marincheva translated Kerana Angelova’s work, Angela Rodell translated Ivan Hristov’s work and Dimiter Kenarov translated his own work.
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It is my great hope that you enjoy this book and feel closeness to the poets. It is my hope that you feel as if you’ve read something brand new, yet something you’ve known all along.

– Katerina Stoykova-Klemer, editor, translator