“For a few books more”- Vick Prize and the Bulgarian literary scene. Interview by Vagabond.
FOR A FEW BOOKS MORE
The article below originated from Vagabond, Bulgaria's first and only monthly magazine in English
Can you name a famous Bulgarian writer? Don’t be misled by the two obvious choices. Elias Canetti, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1981, was born in Bulgaria’s Ruse on the Danube, but left the country when he was six and wrote in German. The best-selling Elizabeth Kostova is not a Bulgarian at all – she is Bulgarianmarried. As for reading a Bulgarian book in English? No?
This same experience had quite an effect on Englishman Edward Vick, founder and manager of EVS Translations, who has several offices worldwide, including Bulgaria. In 2004 he established the Vick Foundation in Sofia, with the aim of sponsoring an annual literary prize for a contemporary Bulgarian novel – and "to read at least one book a year in an English translation."