News - Armenia, Yerevan, Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria

The presentation of “Time Shelter,” the first Bulgarian novel to win the 2023 International Booker Prize for Literature, took place on June 27 during Newmag Publishing’s Summer Fest 2026 at Yeraz Park in Yerevan. This is Gospodinov’s second novel to be translated into Armenian, following the publication of “The Physics of Sorrow” in Armenia in 2022.

Summer Fest 2026 was the most anticipated summer literary, cultural, and sports festival in the capital of Armenia. This year, Newmag Publishing presented five new books, among which the novel “Time Shelter” by one of the most remarkable voices in Bulgarian and contemporary European literature—Georgi Gospodinov, was received with great interest.

During the festival’s opening ceremony, Nikola Nikolov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Bulgaria, delivered a welcoming speech to the organizers and guests. He noted that we are living today in perhaps the most uncertain times yet. Although the world has already witnessed and endured numerous pandemics, wars, and many other calamities, we are currently exposed to an unlimited flow of information; people have become small universes filled with fear and uncertainty, losing touch with reality and their inner personal compass. Gospodinov brilliantly reveals that it is precisely in this context that the past seems safe and serves as a shelter. The ambassador wished the Armenian audience an enjoyable read of the novel, with the hope of future encounters with other works by the distinguished Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov and other contemporary Bulgarian authors. Following the festival’s official opening, a literary discussion was held on the novel and on themes such as memory, time, and identity.

The Armenian translation of “Time Shelter” was done by Gohar Abovyan, who also translated Gospodinov’s  “The Physics of Sorrow“ for the Armenian public, and the book’s main partner is Eurostan Uyut.