Programata

Everyone probably knows that the name behind the initials is John Ronald Reuel or the father of the hobbits and the whole mythology around them, which has led to a new age in the fantasy genre. But did you know that, apart from writing novels, Tolkien was also a poet, an Oxford professor, a philologist who invented many new languages (some used in his stories) and a great artist who illustrated his work brilliantly. If you're just finding some of these things out, wait till you see the biopic about him, entering cinemas this week.

After the publication of her kid's book in Bulgarian, we take a look at the poet's story - with the hope that we'll see more of her in our libraries, which only have a couple of works.

Driving, jogging, tidying up or even taking a shower are no longer stopping you from reading at the same time. But if you still haven't tried the great convenience that audiobooks are, the Storytel platform is here to change that.

The songs you dance to are different than the ones you cry to. So why don't you read on the same principle, choosing your books according to your mood and what you're thinking about? In the beginning of the year, maybe you're thinking about things you'd like to achieve. I'd travel more. I'd be a better friend. I'd start a new hobby. We're giving you a few suggestions so that you won't just be thinking all those things - first read about them, and then proceed to realize them in your life.

The Grimm Brothers, Ray Bradbury and Gianni Rodari knit terrific and fun stories that will keep your lamp lit up late, as long as you find a place under the tree.

"To show the good literary taste" - that's how the King of Sweden himself explained in 1786 the purpose of the Academy, which later started giving out the Nobel for literature. In 2018 the purpose is quite the same, only the taste is bitter over one of the more quiet #MeToo scandals. After a man from the Academy has been accused, the comitee has decided not to give out the prize for this year. Since we're still excited to hear book recommendations, we ask a few people in love with reading who they'd recommend for the prize, if they had the chance.

New children's books by Aldous Huxley, Stephen Hawking and Roald Dahl.

We stopped calling him just Murakami since the contemporary artist Takashi with the same surname became too famous. Haruki is the bigger artist - with words and symbols he draws a parallel universe that is very similar to ours (with its chilly interpersonal relations, for example), but different from it with its magical plots. 17 of them, written in the 80's and 90's, were just released in Bulgarian in The Elephant Vanishes.

It doesn't matter if you're stacking luggage or a library, the time for a new book is always good. But now - especially because six titles of the highest shelf of world literature already tell stories of rage, slavery, suppressed sexuality and love for deep seas and invisible cities.

If you have already sat down on one of the benches that have taken shape from the Cyrillic alphabet, you have literally felt the common plane between typography, literature and urban thinking. We're now walking to three of their addresses in the city, while we're talking about the Hidden Letters with one of the curators of the project, Todora Radeva.

After two novels, poetry books, essays, plays and even a graphic novel, Georgi Gospodinov is returning to the short stories of his first book Lapidarium with All Of Our Bodies - a collection of 103 supershort stories, in which we read a little something about ourselves.

The formula of the Night of Literature is known, and this year its numbers are as follows: from 6 to 10pm on May 9 19 recently translated books are read out loud at 19 locations in the city.

Not that anyone will stop you at the door, but from April 18 to April 22 the Youth Theatre's doors are wide open especially for the youngest book fans with the first International Literary Festival for Kids and Youngsters.

His book Life, seen from below, is coming out in Bulgarian and the story inside is following the sidewalks of Sofia - so we now come after the footsteps of  "one of the most rewarded contemporary Belgian authors" to know him better before seeing him live in January.

The National Palace of Culture has just revealed its facade to welcome guests to the Book Fair and the Sofia Literary Festival. We are now entering the hall for a while and highlighting several accents in both programs, which go hand in hand from December 12th to 17th.