Georgi Gavrilov
- Bulgaria -
Georgi Gavrilov was born on June 15th, 1991 in Sofia. He majored in "Physics of Nuclei and Elementary Particles" at SU "St. Kliment Ohridski". Works by Georgi Gavrilov have been translated into Turkish, Arabic, Bengali, Spanish, French, German, English, Romanian, Croatian, Vietnamese, Belarusian and Montenegrin. Georgi is one of the founders of "Hralupata” and “Svetofar”, and the manager of Scribens Publishing House.
Books:
"Корабен дневник на книжната лодка" (Ship diary of the paper boat)
"Пиета" (Pieta)
"Сините часове" (The blue hours)
"Последният Буенос Айрес" (The last Buenos Aires)
Most important awards:
National poetry competition "Море" (Sea) 2014 (Burgas) - Grand prize.
"Bronze Pegasus" (the grand prize) of the competition for debut literature "South Spring", 2016 (for " Ship diary of the paper boat");
Special award of the Association of Bulgarian Writers at the National Poetry Competition "Hristo Fotev", 2016 (for "Ship diary of the paper boat");
Georgi Gavrilov is one of the most intriguing contemporary voices in Bulgarian poetry—simultaneously grounded in the political present and searching through the timeless layers of history and personal reflection. His most recent book, The Last Buenos Aires, takes readers on a poetic journey through the cycles of civilization, confronting the uncomfortable question of why we continue to witness events we believed humanity had outgrown. The title itself is a metaphor—a symbolic destination we long for, a final place where one can breathe freely and safely.
While The Last Buenos Aires addresses global and historical themes, Gavrilov’s earlier work is more introspective. His 2019 collection The Blue Hours is an intimate meditation on the fleeting nature of the present moment. In it, the tremors of an approaching apocalypse are subtly felt—not yet disasters, but early contractions that might still be avoided.
Before that came Pietà and Ship’s Log of the Paper Boat, the latter earning multiple awards for debut poetry, including the prestigious Southern Spring. Though published close together, the two books differ both thematically and stylistically. In his debut, Gavrilov is a restless seeker of meaning, one who gradually discovers that meaning is not preordained, but built through action and shared human experience. Pietà reads like a romantic sanctuary laced with religious symbolism—a delicate collection of personal pain, preserved like butterflies under glass but also processed and left behind, a spiritual waypoint on the Via Dolorosa.
Literary critic Georgi Tsankov has described Gavrilov as:
“a different kind of poet… From the moment he set sail in his ‘paper boat,’ he carried a clear message on behalf of his generation. He passed the trials of initiation and, with natural talent, mastered the shaman’s powerful magic. Even when sensing the fiery breath of the apocalypse, he manages—not just with words, but through the embedded soul of the text—to lead us to the last Buenos Aires and leave us to choose: to surrender our mortal flesh to the icy grip of malaria, or to keep rolling the stone—not from the abyss, but from the foot of the cross toward the endless Golgotha.”
A physicist by education, Gavrilov often fields the question: “What connects poetry and physics?” His response is as poetic as it is philosophical:
“Imagine the night when one of our prehistoric ancestors stepped out of the cave and looked at the stars—that was the birth of poetry, physics, philosophy… All sciences and arts began there. That bold and, in a sense, unnecessary gesture changed humanity’s perception forever. Today, both physics and poetry work with the entire universe as their material—with the full inventory it offers.”
In recent years, Gavrilov has extended his creative reach into music as part of the Bulgarian band Nasame, for which he writes all the lyrics. While poetry and songwriting are different crafts, he sees one shared principle: the rejection of unnecessary words and clichés.
Beyond his writing, Gavrilov is also shaping the literary landscape as the founder and manager of Scribens publishing house. Since 2017, Scribens has published over 70 titles and built a reputation for discovering new poetic voices and supporting young talent. Many of its books have been nominated for, and received, national poetry awards—solidifying Scribens as one of Bulgaria’s most influential poetic publishers.
For years, the publisher operated out of Hralupata (“The Hollow”), a boutique venue in central Sofia that welcomed over 150 Bulgarian artists from all disciplines. Its new home, just around the corner at 7 Slaveykov Square, is called Svetofar (“Traffic Light”)—named after its three floors, later painted red, yellow, and green, and as a nod to poetic symbolism. Today, Svetofar functions as a bookstore, cultural venue, and creative hub, hosting book launches, acoustic concerts, short film screenings, workshops, and even housing a small bar.
Together with his team—Bozhidar Dimitrov and Anna Lazarova—Gavrilov is committed to enriching urban culture, bridging isolated creative communities, and making space for poetic thought in contemporary life.
Currently, Gavrilov is working with the actor Spartak Todorov on a theatrical adaptation of The Last Buenos Aires, incorporating many of the book’s poems into a dramatic script. His restless drive to explore new forms and disciplines continues to define his work and his life.
By Maria Kumanova
Poetry
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IT’S THE SAME WOUND / все същата рана
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THE HAGUE / Хага
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00:00 / 00:00
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white / бяло
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the last buenos aires / последният буенос айрес
