There is one big publishing house that no serious conversation about modern Bulgarian literature could go without, and it is steered, with a steady hand, by the grande dame of the literary market in the country – Bozhana Apostolova.

Any book reader in Bulgaria is familiar with the logo of her publishing house. Bozhana Apostolova publishes 80-100 books by Bulgarian authors a year. Her greatest merit is that she discovers new talent and, with her support, a whole new generation of Bulgarian authors has been formed. But she also keeps interest alive in some of the best loved and most widely read contemporary authors – Stefan Tsanev, Stanislav Stratiev, Rangel Vulchanov, Petko Bocharov, Todor Nikolov, Radostina Angelova... Over the 30 years of its existence, her Janet 45 publishing company has reelased a large part of the works by four generations of Bulgarian authors, and some in very large numbers. “But before I started moulding this generation, I had published some of the biggest names in Bulgarian literature – Ivan Dinkov, Pavel Matev, Kosta Pavlov, Vera Mutafchieva,” says Bozhana Apostolova and goes on:

“They came to me from state-run publishers that had gone bankrupt, to write their next book. That generation which found a haven here made my publishing house popular and that meant having to take many more responsibilities. I constantly receive new manuscripts that are hoping to see the light of day. I would like to thank all Bulgarians who came to this year’s festival “Plovdiv reading” which opened on 12 June – more than double the number of visitors last year. And they all gave their support to my message – that if year after year we add just one person to the spiritual community in the country, that would be a true triumph of the spirit. I am happy to say we have been adding many more than one – through books and the people who read them.”

Bozhana Apostolova invests all of her money in publishing books by Bulgarian authors – a total of 1,600 titles to date – because she realized early on that to keep the Bulgarian spirit alive, talented authors must be supported. She says it is now time to work with the Bulgarian communities around the world who also want to pass their native language down to their children. She paid a visit to the Bulgarian community in Prague and decided to send them new translated books, but by Bulgarian authors. And more about the idea:

“Talking about my return form Prague, there is one more important thing I should mention. I had several meetings with children from the Bulgarian school there and with their parents. And I said to myself that my idea of having spiritual communities in Bulgaria should spread beyond the borders of the country. My proposal to the translators I met there was for the publication of 5 Bulgarian books a year, as many as we can. There are many Bulgarians in Prague and that will make it easier for the children who are learning Bulgarian in school. That will be the bridge we throw towards them so that books can show them how many smart, creative and talented people there are in Bulgaria. The Bulgarians there really liked the idea and said this was the first time someone had come to them with a concrete proposition. Now we have to do our part of the job and I hope that in no more than one year’s time our project will be enjoyed by many young readers in the Czech Republic.”

English version: Milena Daynova