One of the most renowned Bulgarian poets, Atanas Dalchev, was born on June 12, 1904, in Thessaloniki, in a wealthy family living near the White Tower. His father, Hristo Dalchev, was among the most prominent Bulgarian citizens in Thessaloniki. He was a lawyer by education and taught Turkish and Bulgarian at the famous Men’s High School of Thessaloniki. He was elected an MP at the Ottoman Parliament from the Serres district during the Hürriyet.

''Atanas Dalchev is the creator of the so-called object poetry and, together with Dimitar Pantaleev and Georgi Karaivanov, they establish an entire branch in contemporary Bulgarian poetry", literary critic Professor Mihail Nedelchev told BGNES.

Before September 9, 1944, Atanas Dalchev published four books – "Poems", "Window", "Paris" and "The Angel of Chartres’’. A well-known critic even accused him of writing very little – only 1-2 poems per year. When asked if he had any weak poems, Dalchev would reply: "No, I only write my good poems."

Besides being a poet, Dalchev was also a very good translator of prose and poetry from all five major European languages. He received recognition for his translation skills in both Western and Eastern Europe, where he was honored with several international awards.

Dalchev was also an exceptionally insightful literary critic. Atanas Dalchev's brother was the renowned sculptor Lyubomir Dalchev, who emigrated during socialism and worked in the USA.

Although Atanas Dalchev was not repressed after September 9, 1944, he was largely excluded from active literary activity,  because the authorities believed that his poetry dealt with religious themes and abstract issues. Dalchev did not publish books for 20 years. During all this time, however, his books were in demand.

In 1965, Atanas Dalchev published his exceptionally powerful and famous notes - short, critical, philosophical, which are republished and read to this day. In 1967 Dalchev published a small book entitled Fragmenti (Fragments) containing aphorisms, thoughts and impressions.