The "Writing Diplomats" Program Continues with the Presentation of Svetlazara Kabakchieva's Book - "Heart-Shaped Stones"
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On May 14, at 6 p.m., Svetlozara Kabakchieva's first book "Heart-Shaped Stones" will be presented in the "Mission" gallery, as part of the traditional programme of the State Cultural Institute under the Minister of Foreign Affairs "Writing Diplomats". The aim of the program is to promote new publications and books by current or former diplomats, as literature is an important tool for cultural diplomacy, getting to know and bringing communities together.
The collection of fairy tales is the first book of Svetlozara Kabakchieva. It was published at the end of 2023 by Znatsi Publishing House with the support of the "Help for the Book" program and with the positive reviews of the editor Aksinia Mihailova and Professor Kiril Topalov. The cover and each of the tales are richly illustrated by Irina Vasileva. The book had its international premiere in Brussels at the invitation of H.E. Plamen Bonchev at the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Brussels.
The author has collected ten stories that will make the reader look at the world around us in an extraordinary way. Human traits and emotions are attributed to animals and birds, flowers and objects that talk, worry, fall in love, seek a common language, learn tolerance, and people are part of this magical world with their knowledge and the ability to observe, communicate and help.
Svetlozara Kabakchieva graduated from the Law Faculty of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski". Her professional career is related to law and diplomacy. For 15 years she worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and had two mandates as a legal advisor in the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Bulgaria to the European Union. In 2014, he started working at the European Commission, currently working as a lawyer at the European Executive Agency for Scientific Research in Brussels. Since her school years, she has published poems and short stories in specialized publications, as well as maintains an author's blog https://skabaktchieva.blogspot.com/.
The book will be presented by Ivan Gospodinov - Director of the UN and Global Affairs Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria.
Reviews
Prof. Kiril Topalov:
"The language in which Svetlozara tells her stories is poetic and beautiful. The interweaving of proverbs is original, hence the title of the collection. This skill not only reminds the reader of the rich Bulgarian wisdom collected in short sentences, but also gives imagery to the plot and presents the lesson in a memorable way. The structure of the book unobtrusively illustrates life's cycle. Not all of the stories in Heart-Shaped Stones have a happy ending, but each is a reminder that miracles always exist and are everywhere - both in the fairy-tale sky with which this collection opens, and in the earth - where wild peonies sprout from fairy tales." .
Aksinia Mihailova:
"The fairy tales in the collection "Heart-shaped stones" /IC "Znatsi", 2023/ by Svetlozara Kabakchieva can be applied to all ages, because they contain primordial human values, which in today's dynamic time and radical changes are on our way to lose; values that we adults must remember so that we can also educate the teenagers in them.
Objects unknown to today's children come to life in them - an inkwell, a quill, blotting paper, a pen with a golden heart; a tailor who mends fairy tales, putting heart and soul into what he makes with his hands and bringing joy to others, creating a fairy heaven. Here, as is usual for fairy tales, the flowers in the garden and the trees in the forest, owls and larks, nightingales and titmice, speak. Here, heart-shaped stones are able to work miracles in the everyday life of a person who, in his pursuit of happiness, often makes mistakes, breaks harmony and is unable to hold onto joy."