site.btaGeorgi Gospodinov Signs Books for an Hour at Poland’s Freedom Games

Internationally acclaimed Bulgarian novelist Georgi Gospodinov spent nearly an hour signing books at the Freedom Games festival in Lodz, Poland, according to a post on his Facebook page.

“Thanks to Tsveta Dimitrova for the conversation, to Krum Krumov for the translation, and to Magda Pitlak for being with us. Thanks to the audience — because of the long queue for autographs (56 minutes, according to Magda’s calculation), we managed to catch only the last quarter of the conversation with Clooney in the next hall,” Gospodinov wrote on the social network.

George Clooney, the Hollywood star, was among the guests at the festival.

Georgi Gospodinov is one of the most successful contemporary Bulgarian writers. His popularity abroad received a major boost after he won the 2023 International Booker Prize for his novel Time Shelter, translated by Angela Rodel – his third one published in English. According to TheBookerPrizes.com, Gospodinov’s works have been translated to acclaim in 25 languages.

Freedom Games is the leading festival of ideas in Central and Eastern Europe and the only event of its kind in Poland that is open to the general public. The interdisciplinary forum brings together people around democratic values and a vision of a world based on freedom of choice, economic rationality, culture, and dialogue.

This year’s edition of the festival gave the Freedom Award to Ukrainian writer Serhiy Zhadan.