Stefan Ivanov
- Bulgaria -
Stefan Ivanov (1986, Sofia). He studied Philosophy and Cultural Studies, and has а PhD in Philosophy – at Sofia University. He has published five collections of poems: Ginsberg vs Bukowski in the audience (2005), Lists (2009), Inwards (2013), Without me (2024). He was nominated for the National Poetry Award “Ivan Nikolov” and the Literary Awards “Peroto”. He has won the “Sofia: Poetiki” (2011). His poems have been translated and included in anthologies. In 2013 his play “Medea – My Mother” won The Union of Bulgarian Artists Award “Ikar” for best production. “Between the Holidays” was nominated next year for dramaturgy. He created the performance “Actors vs Poets” (2015-on going). Hundreds of actors and poets participated in more than the hundred editions. In 2018 he was a playwright in residence in the National Theatre of Luxembourg. In 2019 the animated short film “Tasks of the day” based on his poem was an official national nomination for an “Oscar”.
On the power of vulnerability
Silvia Choleva
Translation Stefan Ivanov
Stefan Ivanov is one of the authors who have established themselves over the years not only as writers, poets, playwrights, but also as a person with a strong civic sensibility. Already with his first two collections of poetry he made a strong impression with his maturity.
This was confirmed with his third book, “Lists”, which showed the direction in which the poet was headed. He followed it with “Inwards”, which was a great success. In the meantime, over the years Stefan Ivanov has actively published essays, prose, travelogues, and interviews in over twenty newspapers and magazines. He has translated Allen Ginsberg and Serhiy Zhadan. He has contributed to anthologies and various collections. His poems have been translated.
Extremely active, he is a leading figure in the cultural life of Sofia. He has organized literary events such as "Respect" at the Vlajkova Cinema, "Point against Point" at the Backstage Club, "Slowly: a Spoken World" (together with the musical group Bluba Lu), the "Actors vs Poets" format at the Sfumato Theatre Laboratory. Stefan Ivanov writes dramaturgy that can be seen on the stage of the Sfumato. "Medea - My Mother", co-authored with Ivan Dobchev, received the Ikar Award for 2013. Performances based on his original texts "The Same Day" and "#antisadness" are also performed at the Sfumato.
His latest book after a 10-year hiatus is almost 400 pages and is called “Without Me”. It was preceded by the smaller essay “With You”, in which poetry and essay are mixed to the point of indissolubility, and the titles and length of both are a sign of the freedom with which Stefan Ivanov approaches writing. “Without Me” also fluctuates genre-wise, including poems and diary entries, short essay fragments punctuated by quotations from various writers. The relationship between them is natural; they flow into each other, changing places and sounds. This is how the dramaturgy of the whole book is realized. Like the individual pieces of Robert Walser's “Microscripts”, for example, there is a connecting thread in “Without Me” that runs through the poems and prose fragments and seems to have no end.
As in Stefan Ivanov's other books, the place is the big city. The author addresses the man in it – often lonely and confused, frustrated, obsessed by fear and depression. The world outside is dramatic, and the poet looks at it calmly, reassuring the reader as well that there is a way out after all, and it is generally goodness and love. And also hope and the natural joy of life. We encounter a lonely and terrified man, a frightened man who fears for what is happening around us – and the war, and the violence in his inner circle, and the breakdown of relationships, and the crippled world described in Adam Zagajewski's poem (1945-2021).
Stefan Ivanov sings of the crippled world, suggesting the comfort that a solution is found even unexpectedly, that we can resist through the heart, and not be afraid, even when we are afraid and in pain.
It is characteristic of his poems also in other books, but especially here, that the works correspond directly with the reader, especially the young reader. They become a cry for help, a lament, a cry to the other, a call. In this way their impact is immensely heightened, activating not only feelings, emotions, but also thought, as if the author were standing across from you and speaking to you. This move, this poetics is inherent in Stefan Ivanov's writing, it is the fruit of his considerable experience in dramaturgy, whose techniques he uses. This is how he manages to hold the line and not jump into didacticism, but stop just when the verse has achieved its effect.
An interesting solution in this direction are the "intersections" of poetry with diary entries, which relieve the tension, ground the reader in some everyday stories, throw someone's thoughts at him, slow down the seemingly fast rhythm, give him time to think. It happens naturally, fluidly, as if the conversation begun in verse continues, almost as if in the flesh. Other things happen in dreams – there are quite a few narrated dreams in the book, but with the means of poetry. Everything is connected in a chain, you get a book-chain that leads you. In his introduction, the poet Marin Bodakov (1971-2021), the editor of the book, writes: "He is a chronicler of despair. Despair is our memory today. Despair is now the only link between cultured people of different generations in this country. And maybe that's why we were immediately together in the rain on the square – to protest. And yet, Stefan puts comfort in our despair. He lists the moments of my time. Significant and insignificant. Everything and nothing in the awkwardness of being alone with someone very close to you."
The specific form of "Without Me" is actually an endless conversation with the other person, with the world. It harmonizes with the poignancy of the themes in Stefan Ivanov's poetry and with his desire to be socially and politically sensitive, not to lose sight of the ongoing decay in society, the dehumanization, political corruption, the absence of elementary morality, the difficulty, the impossibility of living in such an environment, from which arise the painfulness of today's man, the lack of love and psychological breakdowns.
Is there a limit, is there a way out, the poet wonders. The possible answers are simple - to be attentive and gentle, to love the people around you, to be honest and direct, not to pass by the fallen, to be able to laugh, not to forget the irony that Stefan Ivanov covertly but often uses in his writing. Irony is a lifeline in the ocean of falsehood and aggression around. The most important thing, the poet tells us, is to give and receive love. Everything in this book leads there, to love, to compassion and concern for the person.
"Without Me" abounds with the author's knowledge in various fields of culture, but presented in such a leisurely way as to arouse curiosity about each fact or name, to engage us in spiritual search and reflection.
Time has already turned and we have come again to the point where social and political issues crowd out the other and take the forefront, even becoming the only thing that excites people in the face of an uncertain future. Stefan Ivanov's book captures this spirit of today and reworks it in his own unobtrusive but firm way, expressing his position through the language of poetry, constantly reminding us of the power of vulnerability.
Poetry
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dostoyevsky’s translator / преводачката на достоевски
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Untitled / Без заглавие
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words written on scraps of paper by 22 refugees in a library / думи написани върху листчета от 22 бежанци в библиотека
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daily tasks / задачи за деня
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the tired death / уморената смърт
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gritting teeth / стискане на зъби
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farewell / сбогуване
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the secret road / тайният път
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a list for my father / списък за баща ми
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for three and a half years the skies were locked / три и половина години небето беше заключено
