The traditional spring book fair is on in Sofia until June 8. The bounty of Bulgarian and foreign literature occupies three floors at the National Palace of Culture. The event is part of Sofia Municipality’s cultural calendar and of the nomination of Sofia and Bulgaria’s Southwest for European capital of culture, 2019.

One of Turkey’s foremost authors - Ahmet Ümit is a special guest to the event where he is presenting his new book The Dervish Gate. The writer from Turkey said he was pleased people in Bulgaria were reading his books and described Sofia as a city of world culture. Ümit has 24 books to his name, his thrillers have been translated into many different languages; The Dervish Gate, Patasana and Memories of Istanbul are the three books by him published in this country to date. Here is what the author said for Radio Bulgaria:

“All writers describe the culture of their nations, presenting the hues of their land and tradition. But human values are universal to all people, whether they live in Turkey, Bulgaria or America. We should convey messages of cultural diversity, whatever the religion, ethnicity or other differences we might have. We are all offspring of one mother. In The Dervish Gate I unfold the ideas of Mevlana (Celaleddin Rumi Mevlana) who says God is not up in heaven but inside us, humans. Heaven and hell do not come after death, they are here on Earth. Man can create his own hell, but also his own heaven. It is these universal topics that evoke interest in my books; this is the reason why they are translated into different languages.”

Once again this year, the book fair offers a myriad of authors and genres - new titles from Bulgaria and abroad, but also classical works. Many of the books are sold at a discount of up to 20 percent.

They say ours is a nation that reads. But are Bulgarians able to set aside money from their meager budget to buy books? Have the citizens of the poorest country in the EU been able to keep up their traditional veneration of the written word? Book publisher Yordan Antov is optimistic:

“It is only natural for a crisis – political or economic – to affect book sales. People have worries about the future. We have the cheapest books in Europe but people feel unsure so they hesitate before they buy. But as they say a poor man will always find a way - sometimes ten people pool their money and buy ten books which they then exchange.  So, we are registering a drop in sales, but there is no drop in reading. Because when there is a political and economic crisis you cannot afford to have a crisis of the spirit. That would be a terrible thing – a tree must always have roots.”

The spring book fair is a place where writers, publishers and readers meet, where visitors can get autographs from their favourite authors – at book presentations but also at the book stalls themselves. Georgi Zhekov is a young author with three books, all of them on esoteric subjects:

“I believe that meeting readers is something very special. It is important for an author to answer readers’ questions. The fair offers an abundant choice of titles in many different genres from different publishing houses.”

The event’s organizers from the Bulgarian Book association say that the book forum’s cultural programme includes the Charity reading initiative, in aid of the people afflicted  by the flooding in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina. The readings, with the participation of famous Bulgarian authors and translators are at the National Palace of Culture on June 7.

English version: Milena Daynova