Your story in ten lines.
I was born in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1980. I graduated with a degree in Russian language and literature from the Saint-Petersburg State University in Russia. In Petersburg I joined the poetry club called “BOLT” where we once organized a “poetry battles”. During one reading, a real fight actually occurred on the scene! After graduating, I worked for six years with a number of IT companies in Bulgaria as a Customer Support Agent and Technical Writer. In 2012, I entered an MA program in translations and editing at Sofia University. During the academic year 2013/2014, I travelled to Venice where I carried out research on Bulgarian translations of Italian hermetic poetry. In Venice I had the opportunity of participating in the literary circle called La Casa Delle Parole (a literary club curated by Donata Grimani and passionate readers who gather once a month from October to June in Venice – their last ‘house’ was Teatrino di Palazzo Grassi – on a thematic base to read published and unpublished stories: this Slow Words issue is dedicated to the youngest reader who regularly contributes to the club, editor’s note) as well as in several other dance/theatre-related projects and workshops. My artistic explorations are inspired by the idea of interaction between art forms – dance, theatre, music, poetry and visual arts.I am also influenced by the hip-hop culture and its elements.
Tell me more about your literary practice (the extent, the goals, your personal way to look out for stories), starting from the language of your dreams.
I write in Bulgarian, Russian, English, and recently in Italian. I prefer short forms and sometimes my language may be somewhat controversial. For me, poetry is a living voice, the spiritual voice of the writer, but sometimes I don’t fully appreciate poets who speak from behind the armor of literary and historical erudition. To me it is more meaningful to listen to someone presenting his/her own poetry than to someone with academic pretensions reading famous poets.
Assuming Venice as your actual or main city, what has it given to you and what have you given to it? If there is a second city you feel is yours, please go ahead….
Venice reminds me Saint-Petersburg, where I spent six years as a student. For me, it is both a flashback and a fateful reminder of my earlier experiences. St. Petersburg and Venice are hard to describe or explain, but I see them as my teachers. I feel that Venice is the perfect place for the collaboration of artists from different fields and countries.
Which is your favourite drink?
Green tea.
What book do you have on your shelf?
Light on Yoga.
A talent you have and the one you miss
I guess I have good intuition, but I’m not so wonderful at mathematics.
What is a pleasant happening you had in recent times?
Butoh dance experience with Atsushi Takenouchi and Hiroko Komiya.
What have you learnt from life?
What comes around, goes around.