site.btaWriter Vasil Popov: Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition Inspires Ideas for “Permafrost” Sequel

Bulgarian writer Vasil Popov, a participant in the 34th Bulgarian Antarctic expedition, told BTA in an interview on Saturday that he collected many stories and inspiration in Antarctica. “The expedition has greatly influenced ideas for the sequel to Permafrost,” he said.

Popov is known as the author of the popular novel Mamnik, which was adapted into a television series. The events of his second book, however, do not take place in Bulgaria, and the plot is not based on Bulgarian folklore. Permafrost tells the story of Antarctica and the Bulgarian Antarctic expedition, intertwining folklore and mythology from several South American indigenous tribes.

“When I wrote Permafrost, I had not yet set foot in Antarctica, so I spoke with scientists who had been at our base to understand what life is like there,” he told BTA.

For the sequel to his book about Antarctica, Popov received an invitation to join the Bulgarian Antarctic expedition and gather impressions firsthand.

“Professor Christo Pimpirev, head of the Bulgarian Antarctic expeditions, contacted me, said he liked Permafrost, and invited me to the 33rd expedition. At that time, the Mamnik series was being filmed, so we postponed it until this year,” Popov explained.

The writer has a background in ecology and has worked in hydrobiology. According to him, literature and science are connected through folklore: if someone loves nature and folklore, they cannot help but love science as well.

“I am excited to visit the places where my characters have been,” he said. “I collected many stories and inspiration in Antarctica. In one week, I experienced a wide range of emotions — I feel like I was on another planet,” Popov emphasized.

The sequel to Permafrost is expected to be published in about a year and a half. Although this expedition has been full of experiences and ideas for writing the book, Popov is open to another visit to Antarctica in 2027 while the book is still in progress. “I would gladly join the next expedition if, of course, Professor Pimpirev invites me again,” he said.

The Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) departed for Antarctica from Varna (on the Black Sea) on November 7, 2025. After a month-long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, the ship arrived at the Argentine naval base in Mar del Plata on December 13.

BTA has had a national press club on board the ship since 2022 and another on Livingston Island since February 2024. These are added to the news agency’s other 41 national press clubs (33 in Bulgaria, seven abroad in neighbouring countries and in nations with large Bulgarian communities, and one mobile National Book Press Club). BTA's Director General Kiril Valchev announced ahead of the fourth voyage to Antarctica on November 7, 2025 that the national news agency would send a special correspondent in January-February 2026.

He said the press clubs exist thanks to the generous support of RSV 421 and Bulgaria’s St Kliment Ohridski Base, which provide the necessary facilities. 

The news items of BTA's special correspondents on RSV 421 and Antarctica are freely available in Bulgarian and English on the agency's website. They can be used free of charge by all media, with attribution to BTA. Valchev recalled that thanks to its correspondents, the news agency appears among the top results on Google when searching for the phrase “Antarctica correspondent”.