Bulgarian literary translations into Persian serve as cultural ambassadors of Bulgaria

The poster for the event and a photo from an ordinary day in the cultural centre and bookshop ”Farhangan” in Tehran (photo: Twitter, Farid Ghadami)

A literary night, focused on Bulgarian literature, took place in Tehran

On 27th January 2022 at the cultural center and bookshop “Farhangan” in Tehran a discussion about the translation of Bulgarian contemporary literature in Persian took place. The speakers were Her Excellency the Bulgarian ambassador Mrs. Nikolina Kuneva, the cultural counselor at the Bulgarian embassy in Tehran Viktor Varbanov and the prominent translator of Bulgarian literature Farid Ghadami. Because of the corona crisis restrictions the public was only around 30 people, but more than 300 people followed the event live on Instagram. 

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Bulgarian contemporary literature is to be discussed in Tehran

Milad Tower is a symbol of Tehran (source: Pixabay, CC0)

An event at the cultural centre and bookstore Farhangan in the Iranian capital will focus on a number of translated works of Bulgarian authors

Vladimir Mitev

A discussion on the Persion translations of contemporary Bulgarian literature, on the history of Bulgaria and its friendship with Iran will take place on 27 January 2022 at the Bulgarian embassy in Tehran. The event will have as speakers the Bulgarian ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Iran Her Excellency Nikolina Kuneva, Farid Ghadami – an Iranian writer and the translator of a number of Bulgarian books into Persian, and the literary critic and writer Hojjat Bodaghi.

Bulgarian literature in Iran: where’s the catch?

Belogradchik Rocks (source: Pixabay, CC0)

Two years after the beginning of a series of translations of Bulgarian contemporary authors into Persian, a number of accomplishments have taken place, but for the engine of this cooperation – Farid Ghadami, knowledge also comes with sacrifice

Vladimir Mitev

Bulgarian literature has been “famous” for being generally unknown beyond the borders of Bulgaria in the last 30 years. While Romanian authors have been translated massively into Bulgarian for many years, the Bulgarian literature books have been largely unknown in Romania, with the exception of a few Romanian-speakng Bulgarian authors, who attract interest maybe also because of their personal openness to the northern neighbours. There are European countries that have Bulgarian culture centers and that certainly boosts the profile of Bulgarian creators. But it has been said many times that Bulgaria lacks a sustainable strategy to promote Bulgarian literature and culture abroad.

Bulgarian literature reveals to Iranians similar concerns and emotions to theirs

The cover of the book with Elena Alexieva’s short stories “Funfair” (source: Sara Mohammadi)

Interview with Sarah Mohammadi – who translated Elena Alexieva into Persian, about her feeling as a translator about Bulgarian literature and about the profession of translator in today’s Iran

Vladimir Mitev

Sarah Mohammadi is 22 years old, and majors in English Translation at Allameh Tabataba’i University, which is the leading specialized public university in humanities in Iran. She has always been interested in both literature and English. Currently, she works as an English teacher and freelance translator besides studying.

Sarah Mohammadi has translated into Persian language a short story collection by the Bulgarian writer Elena Alexieva. This collection contains three short stories (which appear together for the first time), Alexieva’s bio, and the preface she wrote to the Iranian readers. The book is going to be published in the near future by ManiaHonar Publishing House.

Farid Ghadami: I would like to translate all great texts of Bulgarian literature into Persian

The three books of Bulgarian literature, which Farid Ghadami has translated so far, contain poems by Nikola Vaptsarov and Virgina Zaharieva and short stories by contemporary authors (photo: Farid Ghadami)

Interview with the main translator and promoter of modern and contemporary Bulgarian literature in Iran about the reactions to his translations and about his new projects

Vladimir Mitev

Farid Ghadami is an Iranian writer and translator. He is the translator of Nikola Vaptsarov’s “Motor Songs” into Persian. In August 2019 Ghadami was in Bulgaria as part of a translation residency programme of the foundation Next Page in Sofia. While he was in Rousse at that time, he gave an interview to the blog “The Bridge of Friendship”. The blog “The Persian Bridge of Friendship” has published a number of reports and works, related to Farid Ghadami’s activity related to Bulgaria and Bulgarian literature. 

The collection of short stories “After communism” was published in Iran

Books are something sacred for Iranians (photo: Pixabay, CC0)

It presents the new face of the Bulgarian literature

Mohammad Asiabani

This article was published on 13 June 2020 on the site of the Iranian News Agency „Mehr”. 

The compilation of stories „After communism“, written by contemporary Bulgarian writers, was published in Persian language. Its translator is Farid Ghadami.

The Mehr News Agency reports that „After communism“ with Bulgarian short stories, can be bought for 35000 Toumans (5 euro) in the bookshops around the country.

Farid Ghadami: Most Iranian intellectuals are left-wing

Farid Ghadami (foto: Baricada)

Interview with the Iranian writer and translator on his efforts to translate and promote Bulgarian literature in Iran, his writing plans related to Bulgaria, what “literary communism” means, and why various leftists groups will skip voting in the 2021 presidential elections

Vladimir Mitev

Farid Ghadami is an Iranian professor of mechanical engineering as well as a prolific writer and translator. He has written fiction books, books of literary criticism, science manuals and has translated a number of English-language novels and writers. He is the first translator of a large number of Beat generation books into Farsi.

Farid Ghadami spent August 2019 in Sofia, Bulgaria as part of Next Page Foundation’s residency program. One of the events in his programme took place on 14 August in the Austrian Library in Rousse, where he presented his Farsi translation of the Bulgarian leftist poet Nicola Vaptsarov and discussed with the public his vision of “writing as translation” and “literary communism”.

Farid Ghadami gave an interview with the Barricade where he spoke about his realisations related to Bulgarian literature, about literary theory and practice in Iran, and about the state of the left in the Islamic Republic.

This article was published on 2 September 2019 on the Bulgarian site ”The Barricade”. 

What does Vaptsarov sound like in Persian?

Nicola Vaptsarov stays on the cover of the persian edition of his poetry book “Motor songs” (photo: Vanya Hinkova)

Farid Ghadami, the Iranian translator of the book of poetry “Motor songs” by Bulgarian poet Nicola Vaptrsarov, met with the public of Ruse at the invitation of the International Elias Canetti Society. Ghadami is in Bulgaria to establish connections with Bulgarian writers and translate a number of their works into the language of Jalaleddin Rumi and Omar Khayyam

Vladimir Mitev

This article was published on 17 August 2019 on the English section of the site “The Barricade”.
The poetry book “Motor songs” by Nicola Vaptsarov is already available in Iran in Persian. News of the translation was announced at the Austrian Library in Ruse with its translator, Farid Ghadami, in attendance. Ghadami is in Bulgaria on a residency to translate Bulgarian literature; the residency was awarded by The Next Page Foundation (in the House for Literature and Translation – Sofia with the support of the State Cultural Institute). The Iranian came to Ruse on an invitation by the International Elias Canetti Society, which hosts the Austrian Library and encourages cultural and literary links between Bulgaria and the world.