Vanya Petkova

Vanya Petkova
Petkova in 1973
Born(1944-07-10)July 10, 1944
Sofia, Kingdom of Bulgaria
DiedApril 26, 2009(2009-04-26) (aged 64)
Parvomay, Bulgaria
Resting placeCentral Sofia Cemetery
Other namesHatija Sadiq Skander
EducationSofia University, Sofia, Bulgaria; Universidad Popular José Martí Havana, Cuba
Known forSalt Winds, Vow of Silence, The Sinner, Pirate Poems
Notable workThe Sinner, Bullets in the Sand, Salty Winds, Pirate Poems
SpouseNouri Sadik Oraby
ChildrenOlia Al-Ahmed
AwardsGeorgi Džagarov Award, 2005; Bulgarian Writers Union Award 1985; Honorary badge of Kustendil, Bulgaria; Unifier Of Cultures (posthumous) 2019
Memorial(s)Vanya Petkova House and Museum in Ezerovo, Purvomay, Bulgaria; Vanya Petkova Resting Place in Central Sofia Cemetery
The memorial plaque on the house in Ezerovo, Plovdiv, where Petkova lived and worked from 1999 to 2009. The plaque was donated by the Municipality of the town of Purvomay, in 2010.
The headstone of Vanya Petkova's grave at Central Sofia Cemetery

Vanya Petkova (Bulgarian: Ваня Петкова; July 10, 1944 – April 26, 2009) was a Bulgarian poet, novelist, short story writer, and translator of Bulgarian, Ukrainian and Greek descent.[1]

Petkova is widely regarded as one of the most consequential Eastern European poets, with a total of 34 books to her name. Her poetry has been translated to 13 languages, including English, Spanish, French, Russian, Greek, Armenian, Polish, Czech, Hindi, Arabic and Japanese among others.[2]

Petkova worked as a cultural envoy for Bulgaria's diplomatic mission to Havana, Cuba from 1974 to 1978 where she learned Spanish and received her PhD in Latin American Culture and Literature at the José Marti University, shortly after majoring in German at the University of Sofia.[3] She also studied Arabic in Damascus, Syria, and has also worked as a diplomatic interpreter at the Bulgarian Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan. Vanya Petkova has translated the works of a number of Western and Middle Eastern writers to Bulgarian and was a member of the European Writers' Council.[2]

Nicknamed "The Amazon of Bulgarian Literature" by critics, Vanya Petkova is widely considered to be the most cosmopolitan poet in the Balkans. She was fluent in seven languages and her work has notably spread throughout five continents and was translated to thirteen languages.[3]

Petkova's paternal grandmother Anastasia Zhitskaya from Ukraine, and her grandfather - general Ivan Skander.
Vanya Petkova reading her newly released book The Sinner, 1967
Bulgarian poet Vanya Petkova with Palestinian leader and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Yasser Arafat
"The Vanya Petkova House and Museum" in Ezerovo, Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The house where Petkova spent the last 10 years of her life, from 1999 to 2009, and where she wrote much of her work.
Vanya Petkova Memorial Plaque on her house in Ezerovo (Lakeville), Parvomay, Bulgaria
Vanya Petkova's Vinyl Record, released in 1982 by Balkanton.
  1. ^ "Почина поетесата Ваня Петкова". Darik (in Bulgarian). April 26, 2009.
  2. ^ a b Wilson, Katharina M. (1991). An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers. Vol. 1. Taylor & Francis. p. 983. ISBN 0824085477.
  3. ^ a b Petkova, Vanya (1980). Venceremos. Sofia, Bulgaria: Partizdatel.