The eighth and final Ethnocafe under the “United in Diversity” project took place on March 21 at the National Library “St. St. Cyril and Methodius”. Poetry Day was honored with the presentation of an emblematic book – the monograph by Sofia Zakhova “Roma Literature”, in which the author dwells on works by Roma from various European countries, written or not in the Roma language. Special attention in the research is devoted to the specificity of Romani literature created in Bulgaria through the most representative authors, but also periodicals. Sofia Zakhova is part of the team of the Icelandic project partner – the International Center for Multilingual and Intercultural Understanding Vigdís, and the publication was written and realized as one of the activities of the “United in Diversity” project.
The event was opened by the director of the institution, Assoc. Dr. Krasimira Alexandrova, with welcoming words for future cooperation and personal friendship, and a greeting for the guests was performed by the youth dance group “Biserche” of the 88th secondary school “Dimitar Popnikolov” led by Tanya Ilieva.
During the presentation, works by poets of Roma origin were performed. The actor and journalist Valery Lekov read the poem “I am a Gypsy” by Ursin Kerim, and at the end of the event – excerpts from Jovan Nikolic translated by Sofia Zakhova.
Ethnologist Dr. Liliana Kovacheva presented Sofia Zakhova as a scientist sympathetic to the Roma community. She followed her maturation as a researcher, her desire to learn the Romani language and get to know the traditions of the Romani community. L. Kovacheva emphasized the importance of this first-of-its-kind monograph and shared that the topic has excited her as a researcher over the years.
“Roma Literature” reveals the history of an unknown literature from its inception in the 19th century to the digital era, when Roma literature became transnational.
Sofia Zakhova’s monograph raises the debate about literature – which literature is Romani, how to define it. She dwelt on this debate in response to questions from the audience. Topics of the conversation were also the woman artist and her work, women and the Holocaust, as well as the problem of identity. It is the woman, shared Sofia Zakhova, who is more daring as a creator.
Sofia Zakhova was congratulated by Yelis Erolova on behalf of her colleagues from BAS, by Yosif Gruev, who called the book “a bridge between Roma who write about Roma culture and non-Roma who write about Roma culture”. The author was also congratulated by Zhivko Kushev, manager of the Paradigma publishing house, which produced the monograph “Roma Literature”. After the event, Sofia Zakhova signed autographs and spoke with colleagues and friends who respected the presentation. The book is distributed free of charge during the event. It is about to be published as an electronic edition.
The entire gallery of photos from the event can be found HERE
You can follow the entire conversation from the event on the YouTube channel of the National Library “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” HERE.
The event is financed under the project “United in diversity” with funds from the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area 2014 – 2021 under Program PA14 “Cultural entrepreneurship, heritage and cooperation”, Result 3 “Improved awareness of arts and culture of ethnic and cultural minorities” (focus on Roma).