site.btaJune Issue of BTA'S LIK Magazine Dedicated to Atanas Dalchev for Poet's 120th Birth Anniversary

The June issue of the Bulgarian News Agency's LIK magazine is dedicated to poet Atanas Dalchev (1904-1978), whose 120th birthday is on June 11. 

The BTA's issue traces Dalchev's artistic path and the mark he left in Bulgarian culture through the news published over the decades in the agency's issues and bulletins. The magazine features highlights from the BTA archive that reflect the appearance of a new book, an award received or an appearance associated with the artist's name. 

"This issue is dedicated to another personality-event in our culture: poet Atanas Dalchev, who was born 120 years ago. He is not only the creator of poems that have remained on the tops of Bulgarian literature, but has also preserved in it his own territory, which the tremors of time do not reach", the LIK editor-in-Chief, Assoc Prof Georgi Lozanov, writes in the June issue's introduction. 

"Today we all know: Atanas Dalchev is one of the greatest poets of Bulgaria. But although this knowledge is somehow unquestionable today, the recognition did not happen all at once, although there is an illusion that his appearance as a great poet happened almost as soon as his debut. We must therefore unfold the literary-historical narrative of his gradual and lasting establishment. In this way his name will shine even brighter among other Bulgarian poets and poets", writes Prof. Mihail Nedelchev for the June issue. In his words, Dalchev is "the poet who writes only his best poems". 

The magazine features excerpts from the text "Atanas Dalchev on His Creativity" by Vladimir Svintila, provided by the Dalchev's family archive. Svintila spoke with Atanas Dalchev about his poetry throughout the years of their friendship, which lasted from 1945 to 1958, and considers his statements from 1945-1947 to be the most significant. The conversations were conducted during their frequent walks through the streets of Sofia and in them one can detect the authentic "voice" of the poet and his thoughts on life, art and his own work. 

LIK magazine is also looking for an answer to the question, "What does the poet and translator Atanas Dalchev look like through the eyes of his friends, acquaintances and contemporaries?" in the recordings from the archive of the Bulgarian National Radio.The media outlet provided LIK with several files of interviews that have preserved words about the artist over the years. Among them are conversations with poet Aleksandar Gerov, writer Georgi Danailov, poet Blaga Dimitrova, and others. 

Three contemporary young poets - Violeta Kuneva, Teodora Toteva, and Hristo Muhtanov - take part in LIK magazine's poll, presenting Dalchev's poetic tradition today.

In the BTA edition you can also read a conversation with Todora Radeva, founder of the Reading Sofia Foundation. The organization implements various initiatives that present the city, literature and art in symbiosis, which helps to reinvent the urban space through culture.

For the past five years, Reading Sofia has been organizing Literary Routes, and last year Atanas Dalchev was among the featured authors in the spring. The route "A walk through the streets and words of Atanas Dalchev" is led by poet and translator Albena Todorova. She spoke to LIK about how the audience goes through the route dedicated to him.