Literary Festival "Holy Word"
The twentieth edition of the International Literary Festival "Holy Word" - May Meetings of Slavic Artists will open on May 26 at 6:00 PM at the Writer's House-Burgas. The festival program will begin with the premiere of the anthology "Inspirations from Burgas", which will feature poems in eight languages, presented by 24 authors and translators. The anthology is published on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the festival and includes over 150 works by 76 Bulgarian and foreign authors who participated in the last five editions of the forum in the period 2022 - 2026. The publication includes works by authors from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, the Republic of Macedonia, Ukraine, Montenegro, Slovakia, Mongolia, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republika Srpska and Armenia, translated especially for the book by eight established translators - members of the Union of Bulgarian Translators and poets with many years of experience. Some of the works are inspired by the participants' encounters with the natural and cultural landmarks of Burgas and the region - St. Anastasia Island, Chengene Skele Cultural Complex, Aqua Kalide - Thermopolis, Strandzha and Nessebar. In the month of the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius, the Bulgarian alphabet, education and culture, Burgas for the twentieth time becomes host to the prestigious international literary forum, which over the years has established the city as a center of literary and cultural dialogue between Slavic countries. Since the first edition in 2007, over 150 writers from Poland, Croatia, Russia, RS Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Mongolia have visited Burgas. This year, the festival will feature authors from eight countries – Serbia, the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Croatia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Armenia and Bulgaria. Among the guests are Milutin Djuričković, Dušica Ivanovic, Miodrag Jakšić, Mirjana A. Nikić and Zoran Vujanović from Serbia, Daniela Andonovska-Trajkovska and Dimče Šipinkarovski from the Republic of Macedonia, Srdjan Leković and Stanka Radženović Stanojevic from Montenegro, Valerio Orlić from Croatia, Kalina Izabela Gjiola from Poland, Radka Rubilina from the Czech Republic, Ermine Navasardyan from Armenia, as well as Bulgarian participants Sasho Serafimov, Elka Nyagolova, Roman Kisjov, Petar Chuhov, Ivan Hristov, Dimana Ivanova and Maraya Milanova – the youngest participant in the festival. The official participants are joined by authors from the Burgas Writers' Community - Stefan Minchev, Mina Krasteva, Stefan Stoyanov and Diana Savateva - poet and deputy mayor for culture and religions of the Municipality of Burgas. The festival program includes literary readings, creative open-air events, blitz competitions for creating poetry inspired by the natural, historical and cultural landmarks of the region, as well as presentations of translated books from and into Bulgarian. On May 27, the traditional "Poetic Cruise through the Burgas Bay" will take place, which will take participants and guests to the CTC "Chengene Skele" and the island of "St. Anastasia", combining the sea voyage with poetry, sounding in the native languages of the authors. On May 28, the program continues with literary readings and chants in the church "St. John the Baptist" and the Old Metropolis in Nessebar. Among the highlights of the anniversary edition is the musical and poetic spectacle "Music, Poetry and Eternity", which will be held on May 29 at the Thracian megalithic sanctuary of Begliktash. The organizer of the International Literary Festival "Holy Word" is the "Lyuben Karavelov 1940" National Library in partnership with the "Burgas Writers' Community" Association, with the financial support of the "Culture" Fund of the Burgas Municipality and private donors. The festival supports Burgas' candidacy for European Capital of Culture 2032.
