site.btaLeading Romanian Translators Take Part in Discussion at Bulgarian Stand at Bucharest Book Fair

Translators Mariana Mangiulea Jatop, Catalina Puiu, Anca Irina Ionescu, Livia Nistor, and Iulia Bahovski shared their experience as translators from Bulgarian into Romanian. The event took place at the Bulgarian stand of the Bookfest International Book Fair in Bucharest and was moderated by Oana Stanescu, cultural manager and coordinator of Bulgaria’s participation in the fair.

 “Bulgarian is my native language,” said Mariana Mangiulea Jatop, adding that her father is Romanian from Ploiesti and her mother is Bulgarian from Sofia. She shared that at the beginning she had no formal training as a translator and everything came through reading and practice, but also through intuition and instinct.

“My connection with the Bulgarian language and Bulgaria began when I went to Sofia for a specialization. I was accommodated in a student dormitory in the Darvenitsa district. One day the electricity went out and I got stuck with a pleasant young man. Since then, 50 years have passed, more than half a century, and we are still together,” revealed Anca Irina Ionescu.

“For me it was a coincidence. My sister won a drawing competition in Bulgaria. It was the first foreign country we visited. Later I got to know the Bulgarian community in Romania as well. From Dumitru Zavera, who taught in Sofia, I learned that I could study Bulgarian in Bucharest. I enrolled and really liked it. Then I continued with a master’s degree and a doctorate in Bulgarian literature. And since then, this connection has continued,” said Livia Nistor.

Catalina Puiu described her relationship with Bulgaria as both professional and sentimental, and her study of Bulgarian as a “choice of the soul.”

“When I was ten years old, I went to Balchik and saw the sea from above for the first time. The city was colorful and different from the gray Romania of that time. My first words in Bulgarian were: ‘I am going to the beach’, ‘I am going to the sun.’ Later I studied the language in Ruse and Sofia, and in the Bulgarian capital I also met the love of my life. Since then, my life has been moving between Romania and Bulgaria,” shared Iulia Bahovski.

Each of them also spoke about the challenges of working as a translator from Bulgarian into Romanian.

“My path began in 2011. I found myself in a literature with a different atmosphere and different authors. It requires an almost perfect knowledge and a creative spirit to be able to move across different artistic registers,” explained Mariana Mangiulea Jatop.

According to Anca Irina Ionescu, the profession of translator is an essential element of cultural change.

“The first book I translated from Bulgarian was in 1975. I have 55 years of experience in this field. It was easier for me to translate Sophronius of Vratsa than contemporary authors,” she said, adding that she has often translated from Bulgarian into Romanian pro bono because it was enjoyable and interesting.

Iulia Bahovski said that she became a translator at the Faculty of Journalism in Sofia, when professors needed a lot of materials about Romania and about what was happening in Bulgaria’s neighboring country.

“My first experience as an authorized translator was at the Ministry of Justice of Bulgaria. There were no such translators back in 1997. My first translation was a 30-page court sentence. Since then, there has not been a single day when I haven’t been translating,” she added.

Iulia Bahovski also revealed that she has worked with many theatre directors, including Alexander Morfov.

All participants were categorical that translators have an important role and a responsible mission, and they agreed that Bulgarian literature deserves to be translated more into Romanian and that there is currently an imbalance. According to Mariana Mangiulea Jatop, it is necessary to establish a Bulgarian Cultural Institute.

“I would like the books of Zachary Karabashliev to be translated into Romanian. All of them are bestsellers,” said Livia Nistor.

Each of the translators also named a favorite or difficult Bulgarian word for them.

During the discussion, the Romanian Minister of Culture Andras Demeter and the most famous contemporary Romanian writer Mircea Cartarescu passed by the Bulgarian stand.