BookClub
The first book club dedicated to reading fiction by contemporary women authors originally written in Bulgarian and translated into English.
Join us for the first discussion of the new book club dedicated to reading fiction by contemporary women authors originally written in Bulgarian and translated into English.
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The first book club dedicated to reading fiction by contemporary women authors originally written in Bulgarian and translated into English.
Join us for the first discussion of the new book club dedicated to reading fiction by contemporary women authors originally written in Bulgarian and translated into English.
Born during the Women in Translation Month in August 2026 (initiated in 2014 by Meytal Radzinski) and in celebration of the Book Club Day UK on 11 September 2026 (run by the Reading Agency), this new book club will aim to offer bimonthly gatherings online to discuss novels by contemporary women authors originally written in Bulgarian and translated into English before expanding the club to novels by other contemporary women authors from across the Balkans.
Co-curated by Hannah Sycamore and Iliyana Nedkova.
We will start on 26 October 2026 at 18:00 GMT with an initial 40-minute online discussion over Zoom of Izidora Angel's translation into English of SHE WHO REMAINS by Rene Karabash (Sandorf Passage, US and Peirene Press, UK, 2026). Title image courtesy of East of Vienna by Petya Georgieva.
NEW: Due to the huge interest, we will run a free in-person version of our book club on the same night — 26 October at 19:00 EEST/EET (local Sofia time) at l44.space, a creative space located at 44 Neofit Rilski Street. It will kindly be hosted by Vanessa Rider, one of our subscribers based in Sofia who has previously run another book club in the city. If you are based in Sofia or happen to be visiting, and are able to join Vanessa for this beautiful IRL extension of the book club, just drop us an email at iliyananedkova@gmail.com
Further details in the FAQ below and on the dedicated Book Club webpage.
I identify with the credo of the ‘translator as curator’ and see translation as an organic extension of my curatorial projects. Throughout my professional practice as a translator curator, I have been championing the works of women artists and authors including Maria Kassimova-Moisset.
While pursuing literary translations from and to Bulgarian and English since 1993, I was astonished by the scarcity of fiction by contemporary women authors originally written in Bulgarian and translated into English.
Eleven – so far! As we marked the first publication anniversary of BALKAN RHAPSODY by Maria Kassimova-Moisset in my translation into English on 4 August 2026 as part of Women in Translation Month, I couldn’t be more elated by the explosion of new books in translation by Bulgarian women authors!
It may have taken twelve years for the first four books to be published, while seven more novels have been released since 2025. Let’s hope that this accelerated trend of translation and publication of fiction by contemporary women authors written in Bulgarian and translated into English continues.
This new book club will aim to offer bimonthly gatherings online (and in-person in Sofia) to discuss novels by contemporary women authors originally written in Bulgarian and translated into English before expanding the club to novels by other contemporary women authors from across the Balkans.
Please find the details of our list in chronological order of publication here: https://iliyananedkova.wordpress.com/2026/09/12/book-club-contemporary-bulgarian-women-authors/ We will collectively decide in which order we will read them before expanding the club to novels by Balkan women authors.
I compiled a public wishlist with all the books from our reading list which are featured on bookshop.org. Please note that this is not an associated link for bookshop.org and I'd encourage you to contact your local library or the independent publisher direct to secure your copy wherever possible.
44 NEOFIT RILSKI STR.