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A review by gerhard
ФантАstika: Almanac of Bulgarian Speculative Fiction by Khristo Poshtakov, Vladimir Poleganov, Vesela Flamburari, Elena Pavlova, Kalin Nikolov, Atanas P. Slavov, Emil Valev, Maria Velcheva, Magdalena Godalcheva, Johan Vladimir, Peter Stanimirov, Stefan Lefterov, Radoslav Genchev, Kalin M. Nenov, Nikolay Svetlev, Genoveva Detelinova, Margarita Stoyancheva, Val Todorov, Zlat Thorn, Krasimira Stoeva, Lights amidst Shadows, Dimitar Yankov, Svetoslav Todorov, Valentin D. Ivanov, Aleksandar Karapanchev, Drake Vato, Mari Paskalev, Zdravka Evtimova, Ivan Popov, Georgi Markov, Svetoslav Nikolov, Lora Petrova, Nikolay Tellalov, Yancho Cholakov, Kate Danailova, Plamen Semkov, Ivaylo G. Ivanov, Velko Miloev, Dimo Milanov, Maria Popova, Vasil Ivanov, Rossena Petkova, Georgi Malinov, Lyubomir P. Nikolov, Polina Petkova
5.0
It is one of the great ironies of SF that its fans often know more about the alien cultures and civilisations they read about than they do about the myriad cultures of our own planet. Recently when chatting to Kalin M. Nenov on Goodreads about the Apex Book of World SF anthologies, he remarked that there was not a single Bulgarian writer represented in that series, now in its fifth instalment.
I admitted that I did not know a single Bulgarian SF or fantasy writer (Czech writers like Karel Čapek are far more well-known globally.) Kalin – whose ‘The Film-thin Bound’ is one of my favourite stories in this mammoth collection – promptly sent me a link to what is rather weirdly called the ‘Almanac of Bulgarian Speculative Fiction’, which I suspect is a reference to the fact that it is a yearly publication.
My heart kind of sank a bit at that point, because we all know how dreadful fanfic can be … and the Almanac weighs in at a considerable 500+ pages. Imagine then my surprise when I accessed the PDF, and found it to be a beautifully produced document.
It is divided into five sections - Science Fiction, Fantasy & Magic Realism, Avant-garde Speculative Fiction, Futurum (cutting-edge SF) and Fandom (the history and development of the Bulgarian SF scene.) All of these sections are interspersed with colour reproductions of works from a range of talented Bulgarian SF and fantasy artists.
Kalin remarks on Goodreads that this project “is a dream come true – both for Atanas P. Slavov, who has dedicated half a century to the promotion of speculative fiction, in Bulgaria and across the world, and for me, as a translator of Bulgarian SF into English for the past 15 years.”
Atanas, who lives in Sofia in Bulgaria, founded the first Bulgarian SF club in 1968 (a year before I was born!) Incredibly, Science Fiction and Fantasy South Africa (SFFSA) was also established in 1969, with its quarterly journal Probe now one of the longest-running fanzines in the world. It also organises the annual Nova short story competition, which has brought to the fore some of the best genre writers in our country, and an annual convention.
Of course, all event-based activity has now been halted in its tracks due to our lockdown for the Covid-19 crisis (not to mention that an ageing demographic has probably meant that the entire SFFSA management is in the high-risk category …)
It was only recently that SF seemed to have escaped its North American bias, with a veritable cornucopia of translated works from as far afield as Cuba and China now colouring the genre. I think this internationalisation has been largely successful due to the tireless efforts of SF fans as far afield as Bulgaria and South Africa, who not only keep the flag flying for SF and fantasy in their own countries, but also add their unique perspectives to enrich the genre even further.
It was a privilege reading the Almanac, which is an astonishingly diverse collection. I learnt a lot about Bulgarian culture and its rich folklore. Many of the stories and book excerpts here are refracted through the lens of Bulgaria’s complicated political past. But SF is all about the future, of course, and the Almanac shows just how strong and diverse the genre scene is in Bulgaria.
Tireless champions like Kalin and Atanas are clearly the backbone of such fan communities worldwide. While a lot of these writers are virtually unknown outside of their native country – due to the added complication that their work has to be translated competently into English for a global audience – I honestly think it is the responsibility of every SF and fantasy fan who cares about the sustainability of these genres to read as widely as possible, and to grab the opportunity especially with a gem like the Almanac.
This is how the values, hopes and dreams of these genres are upheld and passed along, and how we readers and fans can play our small role in making the world more tolerant and vibrant for everyone. In the words of Kalin: “As they say in certain stories, be the force that changes for the better.”
I admitted that I did not know a single Bulgarian SF or fantasy writer (Czech writers like Karel Čapek are far more well-known globally.) Kalin – whose ‘The Film-thin Bound’ is one of my favourite stories in this mammoth collection – promptly sent me a link to what is rather weirdly called the ‘Almanac of Bulgarian Speculative Fiction’, which I suspect is a reference to the fact that it is a yearly publication.
My heart kind of sank a bit at that point, because we all know how dreadful fanfic can be … and the Almanac weighs in at a considerable 500+ pages. Imagine then my surprise when I accessed the PDF, and found it to be a beautifully produced document.
It is divided into five sections - Science Fiction, Fantasy & Magic Realism, Avant-garde Speculative Fiction, Futurum (cutting-edge SF) and Fandom (the history and development of the Bulgarian SF scene.) All of these sections are interspersed with colour reproductions of works from a range of talented Bulgarian SF and fantasy artists.
Kalin remarks on Goodreads that this project “is a dream come true – both for Atanas P. Slavov, who has dedicated half a century to the promotion of speculative fiction, in Bulgaria and across the world, and for me, as a translator of Bulgarian SF into English for the past 15 years.”
Atanas, who lives in Sofia in Bulgaria, founded the first Bulgarian SF club in 1968 (a year before I was born!) Incredibly, Science Fiction and Fantasy South Africa (SFFSA) was also established in 1969, with its quarterly journal Probe now one of the longest-running fanzines in the world. It also organises the annual Nova short story competition, which has brought to the fore some of the best genre writers in our country, and an annual convention.
Of course, all event-based activity has now been halted in its tracks due to our lockdown for the Covid-19 crisis (not to mention that an ageing demographic has probably meant that the entire SFFSA management is in the high-risk category …)
It was only recently that SF seemed to have escaped its North American bias, with a veritable cornucopia of translated works from as far afield as Cuba and China now colouring the genre. I think this internationalisation has been largely successful due to the tireless efforts of SF fans as far afield as Bulgaria and South Africa, who not only keep the flag flying for SF and fantasy in their own countries, but also add their unique perspectives to enrich the genre even further.
It was a privilege reading the Almanac, which is an astonishingly diverse collection. I learnt a lot about Bulgarian culture and its rich folklore. Many of the stories and book excerpts here are refracted through the lens of Bulgaria’s complicated political past. But SF is all about the future, of course, and the Almanac shows just how strong and diverse the genre scene is in Bulgaria.
Tireless champions like Kalin and Atanas are clearly the backbone of such fan communities worldwide. While a lot of these writers are virtually unknown outside of their native country – due to the added complication that their work has to be translated competently into English for a global audience – I honestly think it is the responsibility of every SF and fantasy fan who cares about the sustainability of these genres to read as widely as possible, and to grab the opportunity especially with a gem like the Almanac.
This is how the values, hopes and dreams of these genres are upheld and passed along, and how we readers and fans can play our small role in making the world more tolerant and vibrant for everyone. In the words of Kalin: “As they say in certain stories, be the force that changes for the better.”