site.btaApollonia Festival Hosts Poetry Event by Domestic Violence Survivors

The See Me Strong and Free event featured poetry by domestic violence survivors on Thursday evening. The event was part of the program of the 40th Apollonia Arts Festival.

The literary-musical reading presented some of the works of 12 women who managed to escape from domestic violence situations. In 2024, they took a creative writing course in a series of meetings with the poet and playwright Stefan Ivanov, after which they wrote their own poems with the help of the poets Albena Todorova, Bilyana Dimova, Eva Gocheva, Kamelia Panayotova, Nadezhda Radulova, Reneta Bakalova and Silvia Choleva . Personal experiences, female empowerment, self-love, and awakening become major themes of exploration and inspiration for these 12 women.

The See Me Strong and Free initiative was organized by the Emprove Foundation for the sixth time since the organization was established five years ago.
At the presentation in Sozopol, five of the authors personally read their works, among them Diana Kuzheva, Dimitrina Ivanova and Iva Petrova. Their project mentors Silvia Choleva, Nadezhda Radulova, Eva Gocheva, Kamelia Panayotova and Reneta Bakalova also read their poems related to the topic. The audience heard more poems by Mihaela Markova, Maria Ilieva, Nedka Koleva, Iva Avramova and others, mentioned only by their first names.

At the end of the evening, Yva Yankulova performed her latest original song for the first time. 

In addition to poetry, the audience also heard some statistics related to domestic violence in Bulgaria.

"Every third woman in our country has experienced some form of violence. From the beginning of 2024 until now in Bulgaria 13 women, victims of domestic violence, lost their lives. Only 13% of survivors report that they experienced a case of violence. On average, a woman leaves her abuser eight times before finally breaking up with them. At least 13 million women in Europe have experienced some form of violence, and over 70% of those asked in a recent survey confirmed that they had a similar personal experience or a loved one affected by toxic relationships," said the event host Aneta Ivanova.

The Emprove Foundation provides support for women who need support before or after leaving a toxic relationship. The organization has existed for five years and during that time 70 women have become part of its community.

The organizers also recalled that Emprove has a chatbot on Viber where anyone can find the necessary help.

The next event in the See Me Strong and Free series will take place on October 20 at the Cinema House in Sofia.