* WINNER OF THE BBC INTERNATIONAL SHORT STORY AWARD 2012 * Prepare to discover a fascinating country; a land buffeted for centuries by power-struggles and revolts, lorded over by Turks, carved up by its neighbours, and subsumed into the Soviet Union. Yet also a land of proud and resilient people, of crawfish hunters and bagpipe makers, shepherds and gypsies, in which daily life goes on. So meet the teenager who swims by night across a border river to steal a kiss from his girlfriend, the ageing man who finds a cachet of loveletters his wife has kept for sixty years, and the post-Communist girl, an avowed thief with a heart of gold. Here are Miroslav Penkov's beguiling, surprising and moving visions of his home country, Bulgaria: stories of people who mourn the way things were and long for what will never be, who wrestle with the weight of history, the debt to the family and the pangs of exile. And here is a remarkable new writer, who combines an eye for the absurd with great empathy to give a fresh and inspiring insight into our common humanity.
Miroslav Penkov Knihy
Miroslav Penkov zkoumá složité vztahy mezi minulostí a současností, často se zaměřuje na témata identity a vykořenění. Jeho próza se vyznačuje pronikavým pohledem na lidskou psychiku a poetickým jazykem. Penkov mistrovsky zachycuje pocity odcizení a hledání domova, které rezonují s jeho vlastní zkušeností imigrace. Jeho díla nabízejí hluboký vhled do lidské duše a komplexnosti kulturního přechodu.


Stork Mountain
- 448 stránek
- 16 hodin čtení
An intelligently mapped plot complements the skilful blend of familial relationships with religious commentary . . . This is a historically rich study of borders: those imposed by cartography and those that are self- constructed. Zoë Apostolides Financial Times