meet the author: georgi gospodinov

Since winning the International Booker Prize in 2023 for 'Time Shelter', Georgi Gospodinov has become a leading international author. Gospodinov has profoundly revitalized Bulgarian prose and, book after book, explores themes such as memory, empathy, and the urgent concerns facing Europe. A co-production by Passa Porta, Bozar and Read.For.Real He wrote his most recent novel, Death and the Gardener, entirely by hand. It recounts the death of Gospodinov’s father, a taciturn gardener, and the entire world consigned to the grave alongside him. This unforgettable work was named Book of the Year in Spain, Germany, Poland and Turkey. During this evening at Bozar, Gospodinov will discuss his writing, his vision of literature, and the themes that fascinate him with fellow author and Eastern Europe expert, Peter Vermeersch. A unique opportunity to hear one of the leading voices in contemporary European literature. about the author Born in 1968, Georgi Gospodinov is one of the leading authors of the new generation of Bulgarian writers. He is the author of the novels Natural Novel (which thoroughly reinvigorated Bulgarian prose) and The Physics of Sorrow and of short stories (And Other Stories and The Story Smuggler) and essays. A poet (five collections) and playwright (two plays), he is also a literary critic and a contributor to the journals Literatouren vestnik and Dnevnik. Most of his works have been reissued in Bulgaria, and he has received several national prizes and is, to date, the most translated contemporary Bulgarian writer. His novel, Time Shelter (translated into English by Angela Rodel, published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson), was awarded the International Booker Prize in 2023, one of the world’s most prestigious literary awards. about the moderator Peter Vermeersch (b. 1972) is a writer, Slavist and professor of political science. He has published essays, prose and poetry in, among others, De Correspondent and McSweeney’s. He previously released Ex. Over een land dat zoek is, nominated for the AKO Literatuurprijs, the Bob den Uylprijs, de Gouden Uil and the E. du Perronprijs. In 2016 he received the Literature Prize of the Province of West Flanders. His latest book is Polsslag, Hoe een popsong Oost-Europa hoop geeft (De Bezige Bij, 2025).