The Union of Bulgarian Writers marks 110th anniversary

published on 9/8/23 10:11 AM

Photo: архив

The Union of Bulgarian Writers is celebrating 110 years since its foundation. The creative association was established on September 8, 1913. Ivan Andreychin (literary and theater critic, poet, fiction writer, playwright and translator) was elected its first chairman, and the patriarch of Bulgarian literature Ivan Vazov was elected its honorary chairman.

In its publications, Radio Bulgaria will introduce you to the important moments of the activities of the Bulgarian Writers' Union.

Portrait of Ivan Vazov, artist Georgi Evstatiev

"Looking at the history of the Union of Bulgarian Writers, we are also looking at the development of Bulgarian literature, in general," says the current chairman of the organization, Boyan Angelov - writer, philologist, philosopher, journalist and public figure - in an interview with Radio Bulgaria:

"Our union is the first literary and writer's organization in Europe. It was created after the first national catastrophe caused by the War between the Allies (1913), at the end of which the Romanian troops were only ten kilometers from Sofia, and Bulgaria's former allies were ready to divide it into parts and destroy it. The peace treaty signed in July of that year in Bucharest saved Bulgaria, and the young officers who returned from the battlefield - writers and journalists - decided to create an alliance to protect the Bulgarian spirit and protect the spiritual borders of Bulgaria. They addressed a letter to the greatest Bulgarian writers of that time - Ivan Vazov, Prof. Ivan Shishmanov, Anton Strashimirov, etc., inviting them to become honorary members of the Bulgarian Writers’ Union. Thus, on September 8, 1913, the founding meeting was held. Among the founders are Elin Pelin, Yordan Yovkov, Peyo Yavorov... Ivan Andreychin - a person who graduated in France, a talented poet, who emigrated from Bulgaria to Switzerland during the First World War due to his pacifist beliefs - was elected as chairman”, explains Boyan Angelov.

But one of the greatest merits of the Bulgarian Writers’ Union then was that it requested from the War Ministry that its members become correspondents in military journals or work in the military districts. This saved many Bulgarian writers who were on the bring of survival. We all know that Yordan Yovkov was a military correspondent and wrote wonderful short stories that have gone down in the history of Bulgarian and European literature, Boyan Angelov adds.

The chairman of the Union of Bulgarian Writers Boyan Angelov

The history of the Bulgarian Writers’ Union is diverse - often dramatic, many times funny and even comic, says Boyan Angelov and describes a curious case from the time when the master of the short story and "singer of the Bulgarian village" Elin Pelin was the chairman of the union.

"When Elin Pelin became chairman of the Union of Bulgarian Writers in 1920, he was already good friends with Alexander Balabanov, also a member of the union. However, Alexander Balabanov allows himself to post mocking epigrams about several of our women writers. Declaring themselves in their defense, the Management Board of the union decided to expel Balabanov. As a sign of friendly feelings, Elin Pelin also left although he too did not agree with his friend's actions. All this did not prevent Elin Pelin from being re-elected chairman in 1940. During the heaviest bombing of Sofia in January 1944, risking his life, he crossed the center of Sofia to Ivan Vazov's house-museum, from where he managed to take the glass jar with Vazov's heart inside and save it. A sign of empathy and respect from student to teacher - such as continues to exist today among the members of the Union of Bulgarian Writers".

And what is the most significant contribution of the writer's organization today? According to its chairman Boyan Angelov, the vocation of creative unions is to take care of their members - to defend their rights, to assist in finding a job and to support them in case of social need.

"A large number of artists remain outside scientific establishments and institutes, which condemns them to a humiliating existence. The bad thing is that the state has not found a sure way to support creative associations, just as it does not support the artists themselves. But I believe that such a mechanism can be found. It is not right for people who have left a body of creative works over the years to leave this world offended, embittered and in unheard-of misery."

To be continued…

Photos: archive, Krasimir Martinov, BGNES

Translated and published by Rositsa Petkova

Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!