Vick Prize for the best novel of the year in Bulgaria generates upturn in Bulgarian novel

By: Svetlana Dicheva, Bulgarian National Radio

3 years ago the Englishman Edward Vick, CEO of the international translation company EVS Group, created the Vick prize for the best novel of the year in Bulgaria. His initiative was acclaimed by those who saw in the prize a new opportunity for the Bulgarian literature after almost 15 years of standstill and criticized by others who were convinced that a foreigner could not be of any help in a field where national language and mentality are a priority. Every year a standing committee of renowned Bulgarians select a jury of four to read through all the novels first published in Bulgaria in the previous year and present a short list. In the autumn a winner is announced in a ceremony from this six books with internet participation on the part of the general public securing a 20 percent share of the votes.

This autumn at the Frankfurt book fair the first two winners will present their prize-winning works on the Bulgarian stand - Stefan Kissiov with a book revisiting the Bulgarian communist past and Emil Andreev describing a pastoral destroyed by the ghosts of past and present. A 25 minutes documentary by the eminent Bulgarian film director Rossen Elezov will show moments of the work of the jury and opinions of readers and experts on the literary competition. Svetlana Dicheva from the Bulgarian national radio took an interview from Edward Vick, Chairman of the Vick foundation.