April 22 marked the 95th birth anniversary of Valeri Petrov, one of the great masters of the Bulgarian language. He wrote many verse volumes, plays for children and adults alike, screenplays and travel notes. Petrov died in the summer of 2014 leaving a diverse creative legacy. In connection with his birth anniversary the Zahariy Stoyanov publishing house has released his volume Poems 2007-2013 that was premiered at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia. In the fine volume the poet spells out uncomfortable truths about the present day, indulges in self-irony from the standpoint of wisdom and ushers the reader into the infinite pursuit of words and meanings that a few critics have termed Valeri's brand.

„This represents a bunch of ways to view life”, the poet once said in an interview for Radio Bulgaria, “that actually boil down to an affectation, as if we do not take things seriously, because if we do this spells trouble. On the other hand, writing goes hand in hand with hardships, with the important point however that this job is a source of happiness. It could be that compared to other writers I spend more time over the sheet of paper. After all, when I am successful, I am instantly filled with joy.”

„Valeri Petrov was one of the pillars of contemporary Bulgarian poetry, a screenplay writer, a brilliant playwright and author of wonderful tales for children”, the head of the Zahariy Stoyanov publishing house Ivan Granitski said at the premiere. “His translations are unsurpassed. Alexander Shurbanov, a leading translator from English, has repeatedly expressed his veneration for Valeri Petrov's proficient full Bulgarian translation of Shakespeare. I am not aware of such a cultural feat. Perhaps Samuil Marshak is the only translator of the entire Shakespearean work. Besides, after his 85th birthday Valeri Petrov conceded to translate Faust by Goethe and did it as brilliantly as ever. He has translated hundreds of works.”

Writer Angel Vagenstein was also present at the premiere of Valeri Petrov's volume:

„The core of his bequest is his deep good-heartedness, his tenderness to man; his faith sometimes naïve though. It is so good when one has faith in that things will improve, no matter how sad thy might look. Valeri and I have had a lot of doubts over many things but we have never had any doubts - neither during fascism nor under communism - that our fates and dreams were based on leftist ideas. For me Valeri was the most memorable man I've met in my life.”

Listen next to film director Ivan Pavlov who has shot movies on screenplays by Valeri Petrov:

„Valeri Petrov is a symbol of the culture and art of 20 c. I do not know whether he was aware of this but I am convinced that with his works he will have great posthumous influence in 21 c. as well.”

Here are the words of actor Veli Chaushev who joined the premiere of the verse volume and gave a recital of works by Valeri Petrov:

“In every line, in every word written by him there is love for humanity and plenty of wisdom. The greatest asset of his poetry is humaneness.”

English Daniela Konstantinova