site.btaThrough Foreign Languages, LIK Magazine Gives Bulgaria a Voice Abroad, Says BTA Director General Kiril Valchev

BTA Director General Kiril Valchev said the translation of LIK magazine into foreign languages is an opportunity for Bulgaria to freely display the face of its culture. He addressed a thematic event on Thursday organized by the Bulgarian Cultural Institute (BCI) London, its Director Svetla Dionisieva and Miglena Rogacheva, Diana Spasova and Yoana Peeva.

The event marked the 60th anniversary of the first issue of LIK, BTA’s magazine for literature, art and culture, and the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR).

Valchev said that some issues of LIK are already being published in foreign languages. The issue about Bulgarians in Ukraine was published in English. LIK issues in English also covered the 45th anniversary of the spaceflight of Bulgaria’s first cosmonaut, Georgi Ivanov, which made Bulgaria the sixth nation to send a person into space, as well as the historic first voyage to and from Antarctica by the Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril I Metodii and Bulgarian science on the continent. That Antarctic-themed issue was also published in Spanish. Additional English-language issues featured the 155th anniversary of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), and the 60th anniversary of the LIK magazine itself. The issue on Bulgaria and World Expositions, presented on Bulgaria Day at EXPO 2025 in Osaka, Japan, was published in both English and Japanese. An upcoming July issue dedicated to Bulgaria and UNESCO will be available in English and French, Valchev added.

BTA's Director General also presented the history of LIK, whose first issue was published on January 8, 1965.

The magazine stopped coming out twice in its history: from 1992 to 1999, and from 2013 to 2021. It resumed monthly publication in March 2022. He explained that the name LIK derives from the first letters of the Bulgarian words for “literature,” “art” and “culture,” but also means “face.”

Revived in 2022 after a decade-long pause, the magazine now has a thematic profile and draws on BTA’s archives, highlighting news and events from the news agency's 127-year history, since its first bulletin came out in 1898, on specific personalities, events or themes from cultural and public life. The magazine also seeks a modern interpretation of archival topics, inviting experts to write or be interviewed to make cultural achievements more accessible to readers, Valchev explained.

He told the audience that BTA has not only restored the magazine, but also created a new editorial department named LIK, equal in status to the political, economic and sports departments.

BTA has also named its custom-designed typeface LIK. The typeface, now used in the magazine and across the news agency, was created by the Bulgarian National Academy of Arts, inspired by the 9th-century letters of the disciples of Saints Cyril and Methodius—the creators of the Glagolitic alphabet. This year marks 1,170 years since the creation of that alphabet, part of the new joint initiative by BTA, Bulgarian National Television (BNT), and BNR titled “14 Centuries of Bulgaria in Europe,” which will commemorate key historical milestones until 2032 - the 1,400th anniversary of the founding of Old Great Bulgaria in 632 CE.

The Director General also emphasized that, like BTA’s real news, the LIK magazine is available for free and open access.

All issues of the magazine published since its revival can be downloaded for free from the BTA website: https://www.bta.bg/bg/lik-magazine. The agency also sends printed copies free of charge to more than 300 libraries, cultural institutions, universities, government bodies and media organizations.

Valchev also mentioned that BTA, in its mission to involve more people in literature, art and culture, now presents each issue of LIK through events that include remote participation from 44 BTA national press clubs in Bulgaria and abroad.

Since October, the magazine has also had a place in the Hristo Botev cultural program of the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR). In Radio LIK, broadcast on the first Sunday of each month, LIK editor-in-chief Assoc. Prof. Georgi Lozanov and selected guests discuss the content of the monthly issue.

Valchev told the audience that in the editorial for the anniversary issue of LIK, he addressed the question "Why do we still need LIK today?" through five strategic goals with which BTA has entered the 2020s, in the context of its 125-year history.

First, LIK is needed because of the truth. Truth should not be a commodity. The revival of LIK is a return to classical journalism with editorial responsibility and clear sources. The most serious truth humanity must bring forward, he said, is that people have souls, and the media must care for them. LIK is a return to the soul and a reminder of spiritual values, after years of trying to satisfy the material cravings of the body in Bulgaria.

Second, because of the truth it presents, LIK must be freely accessible. By funding LIK through its own revenue and providing it freely, even in foreign languages, BTA fulfills its legal mandate to promote and protect Bulgarian culture under the Bulgarian News Agency Act.

Third, LIK is essential for knowledge. For 60 years, it has been a rare or even sole source of knowledge on cultural achievements. Access to national and universal cultural values is enshrined in the Bulgarian Constitution (Article 54 and the preamble), said Valchev. BTA has been signing partnership agreements with cultural institutions, universities, NGOs and influential figures in the cultural sphere, not just for the regular delivery of content but also for securing copyright permissions, addressing a previously overlooked issue.

LIK, both as magazine and news servic, has started acknowledging the patrons and supporters of Bulgarian culture, education, science and sport by naming them without treating it as advertising or expecting payment. This promotes transparency and serves as encouragement for more people and organizations to support Bulgaria’s cultural sphere.

Fourth, we need LIK today because we need a celebrating community, said Valchev. LIK readers have always formed a community that celebrates the highest achievements of human civilization. Encounters with inspiring people and events bring joy. Showing the bright face (lik in Bulgarian) of Bulgarian culture to the world also nurtures the self-esteem of Bulgarians, who too often focus on the dark side.

He emphasized that over the last three years, BTA has become a major source of news about Bulgarians abroad. In 2024 alone, the news agency published over 8,000 stories in its BG World section, created in 2021 with only 243 stories in its first year.

The Director General also recalled that on May 24-25, BTA hosted the 20th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media, gathering Bulgarian-language media from 25 countries in Sofia, the Klisura monastery and the town of Varshets.

Fifth, Bulgaria needs LIK today for the sake of memory. BTA’s archives provide a foundation for building on the spiritual achievements of our ancestors. In recent years, alongside reviving LIK, the news agency has also focused heavily on preserving its archives and celebrating its 127th anniversary. Historical bulletins, starting from 1898, are now stored in modern facilities rather than dusty attics, and BTA hopes that by next year, all archives, including LIK issues, will be digitized and easily accessible.

This, Valchev concluded, "will allow us to fully explore, in Jorge Luis Borges’ words from 'The Garden of Forking Paths', the infinite series of times, in a dizzily growing, ever spreading network of diverging, converging and parallel times'...”

He closed his remarks by saying that in that infinite web of time, LIK remains a beacon in the “Egyptian Darkness,” referencing Mikhail Bulgakov’s short story of the same name, published in issue 16 of LIK in 1972, and reprinted in the 60th-anniversary issue.

The event in London

The event at BCI London featured issues of LIK dedicated to its 60th anniversary and the 90th anniversary of BNR. Two exhibitions were staged: the documentary exhibition “90 Years of BNR: The Radio of Generations of Bulgarians” and artwork from a national competition titled “In the Footsteps of Sirak Skitnik.”

The event also featured a special performance by pianist Mario Angelov, who performed works by Pantcho Wladigueroff, Dimitar Nenov and Krasimir Kyurkchiiski.