site.btaZachary Karabashliev’s “Wound” Named Bulgarian Novel of the Year

Zachary Karabashliev’s Rana (Wound) was named Bulgarian Novel of the Year in the annual competition organized by the “13 Centuries of Bulgaria” National Endowment Fund.

Miroslav Alexandrov, Executive Editor at the Ciela Publishers, received the award on behalf of the author, who was absent from the ceremony at the Sofia City Art Gallery.

Literary critic Milena Kirova, who chaired the jury, said at the event: “This is a novel that revives and enriches the collective memory of the Bulgarian people. Built on a huge investment of effort and energy and based on a vast amount of documentary material coupled with a literary plot, it teaches readers about the unfading significance of traditional moral values.”

Culture Minister Nayden Todorov said that the award presented by “13 Centuries of Bulgaria” is exceedingly important. He commented: “Without an alphabet we can have no memory; without memory we can have no history; and without history we can have no nation. I hope that thanks to people like you and thanks to authors like those whose nominations were presented today, the Bulgarian nation has better reasons to be proud than the ones we have had lately.”

The other works nominated for Bulgarian Novel of the Year were Ne vi poznavam (I Don’t Know You) by Teodora Dimova, Maria ot Ohrid (Maria from Ohrid) by Anton Baev, Ecstasis by Radoslav Bimbalov, Stryaha. Prikazkata kato zhivot (Home. The Fairytale as Life) by Hristo Dobrotinov, and Domat na pchelite (The Home of Bees) by Tsanko Lalev. The novels submitted for the competition were published in 2023.