Black Sea Literary Festival

From June 5 to 8, Burgas once again becomes the literary stage of the Black Sea region. Three days of meetings, readings, discussions, and creative workshops await you! The third edition of the Black Sea International Literary Festival brings together nearly 60 leading writers, poets, translators, publishers, literary agents, and journalists from Turkey, Georgia, Ukraine, Romania, and Bulgaria. The forum is establishing itself as a key space for dialogue between the literary cultures of the Black Sea region and Europe — a mission that directly supports Burgas’s candidacy for European Capital of Culture 2032. PROGRAM Black Sea International Literature Festival 2026 June 4–8, 2026 June 4 19:00 – Sea Casino --June 5 09:30 – Meeting in the hotel lobby and walk to the port 10:00 – Departure for St. Anastasia Island 11:00 – Panel “The Black Sea Book Markets, a Turbulent Year” 12:00 – Lecture by Doll McLehose – "Literature as a treasure hunt – discovering diamonds in unknown territories" 18:00 – Official opening. Discussion and reading in the library -June 6 10:00 – Professional program "Building bridges and sharing experiences" 10:45 – Panel "International Promotion of Literature: How to Make Our Authors More Visible?" 12:00 – Lecture by Katharina Raabe – "Surkamp and the Literatures of Southeast and Eastern Europe" 14:00 – Panel "The Other Life of Books - From the Book to the Screen, Stage and Audio Format" 14:00 – 18:00 – Meetings with authors: * Galin Nikiforov * Nikolay Terziyski * Rene Karabash * Andrey Kurkov 19:00 – Special literary readings for the Burgas audience - June 7 10:00 – Discussion "The Black Sea speaks of freedom – freedom of expression, freedom of publication" 11:00 – Panel "How do we succeed in big markets?" 14:00 – 18:00 – Meetings with authors: * Teodora Dimova * Elena Vladareanu * Ahmet Yumit * Elizabeth Kostova 19:00 – Closing ceremony and literary reading on a boat in the Burgas Bay