In 2013, I was working as a community center secretary when I started collecting information. At first, for myself. I sorted out what I wrote, revised it, and it became a nice book. My children used it in their literature classes, especially the part about holidays. At a much later stage, it occurred to me that what I had collected could be seen by the "white world". I decided that it was something that every Bulgarian should have in their home. Because people are interested, but many of them have forgotten. In the preface and afterword of the book, I emphasized precisely this - why it was written and why it is worth it.
– There are more than one or two books on the market that are dedicated to Bulgarian folklore, traditions and customs and everything related to them. How do you think “Once Upon a Time. Morals and the Way of the Bulgarians” differs from them?
Apart from books with fairy tales, legends and traditions, there are currently various publications on the market in paper form, mainly for the holidays. Last summer I saw two new publications dedicated to Bulgarian embroideries and costumes. But all this is very narrowly focused. At the same time, the Internet is full of information, but it is somewhat scattered. And the most unfortunate thing is that many old publications on the subject are gathering dust in libraries, which simply no one reads.
My collection is distinguished by the fact that it covers, if not everything, then at least a large part of our folklore. And at the same time, it revolves around a period of time twice. Once as a cycle of human life: the acquaintance of young people, the wedding, the birth of a child, the building of a home and of course death; and the second time as a calendar year with all its holidays and rituals.
The book begins with a description of the folklore regions and their features in terms of dance, music, costumes. The second part is dedicated to folk instruments: where they are distributed, what they are made of and how the sound is extracted. Then we move on to costumes and embroidery. Clothing has been an important part of the lives of Bulgarians. In the past, it was like a kind of identity document. Its distinctive features were used to understand which region a person came from, what family he was from, whether he was married or not, his material status. The symbolism of the embroidery and decoration was also not created without meaning. Then we move on to the rites, holidays and customs, and I decided to include the national ones, which are an important part of our historical past and are related to our way of life and culture. Finally, I made a small list of some forgotten words from our language that are not used today, but the objects they name were an essential part of the everyday life of the old Bulgarians.
– What is your opinion, is there interest among young people in Bulgaria to learn more about their native traditions and folklore, or does the topic seem very archaic to them? Is there a chance that such a book will reach them?
At the dawn of democracy, folklore seemed to have died out. But in the last ten years or so, I have observed the exact opposite. There have been dozens of folklore festivals in the country, with the number of participants increasing every year. Many folk dance clubs have been created. Children from a young age sign up for folk singing lessons and choose to play something. Unfortunately, when they grow up, some of them stop these activities, but overall I think that interest in old Bulgarian knowledge is increasing. There are new books on the market by Bulgarian authors, a new genre that is gaining momentum. And all of this is very good.
– There are many people like you who, without being professionals in a given field, have a deep interest and knowledge in it and accordingly think about publishing a book. But very often they do not decide on this step or encounter great difficulties in its implementation. What was your experience? How long did it take from the birth of the idea to its realization? Was the path you had to take easy or rather difficult?
The information gathering began in 2013 and it took me a few months before I printed the prototype of the book on my home printer. Over the years, I have tried several times to find a publisher because I could not take on the financial part myself. I did not try very hard, and there was no response. Last year, the idea for a book began to "glow" in me more insistently. I prepared a short summary of what I was offering, opened Google and started looking for contacts of publishers. I wrote 23 emails in a few days. I only received two responses. The publisher that turned me down did so on the grounds that they did not publish this type of literature, but at least they answered me. You were the next with a positive response. In the summer of 2019, before sending the manuscript, I reviewed it again and found that it needed a major revision. I also added many new things to make it completely complete and finished. It took me a few months.
Was it easy for me? Rather yes. Maybe because I didn't have many expectations and I did everything more for fun and with pleasure. I did what I liked, with the idea that if it worked out, it would be wonderful, if not – so be it.
– After making your authorial debut, do you plan to write other books?
In recent years, I have been increasingly involved in writing and translating. I have published articles for three different columns in Universal Academy of Studies and Arts Ltd, an English platform for courses on esoteric topics; I currently also work as a writing editor, preparing book summaries.
My next project, which was also started a long time ago, is a bilingual book in Italian and Bulgarian. An almanac, including information about the main cities of Italy and their landmarks, famous people and of course a bit of Italian folklore – costumes, carnivals, proverbs. Italy is a country with a rich culture and has left a huge world heritage. I think the almanac will be suitable mainly for language learners, and why not for people who want to get to know a part of world culture.
After that, I plan to dive right in. In recent years, books on personal development have been popular: how to become more confident, how to succeed in business… There are established specialists, authors of very good publications. I am not a graduate psychologist, but during my two studies I studied enough of this science, I defended my master's degree on this topic, I completed a course in journalism, I am an economist and I know how to handle information: analyze, process, filter… and I write well. I am not sure exactly what it will be. I have some raw material, I believe that something good will come out that people will like.