Theodora Mileva
Theodora Mileva (2006) was born in Sofia, has lived in Vienna since 2022 and is the creator of the first Bulgarian podcast about art and culture outside Bulgaria – ArtPath Podcast. She is the author of poetry and prose that has won awards at literary festivals such as Malki Poetiki and Iskri, and been published in Bulgarian and foreign language media such as Ah! Maria and Why nICHt?
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She makes documentary and experimental films that have received nominations at festivals in Brazil, Czechia, France and Spain, and has taken part in the youth film festival in Stara Zagora. Teodora writes film and theatre criticism for the Austrian media outlet New Viennese Theatre Criticism (Neue Wiener Theaterkritik) and is a member of the popular German playwright Thomas Perle’s literary class at the Literaturhaus Wien. She is a member of the board of directors and head of the youth section of the Cyril and Methodius Bulgarian cultural and educational organisation in Vienna. In 2024 she was the youngest of the 10 nominees for Enlightener of the Year for her contribution to culture.
THE AUTHOR’S VOICE
Поезията е:
Въздух под налягане.
Какъв е животът на твоята поезия (как се ражда, как порасва, как съзрява, как умира)?
Обикновено се ражда късно вечер в някоя тетрадка, пораства в чекмеджето на бюрото ми и съзрява в „Ах, Мария“, която в ролята си на философски камък ще є гарантира вечен живот.
Изкуството свързано ли е с политиката и проблемите на нашето време? Кои проблеми те гнетят?
Изкуството е свързано с вълненията на неговия създател – именно от тях зависи дали дадено произведение ще бъде фокусирано върху недъзите на външния свят, или по-скоро ще разнищва душевни дилеми. Често придавам на творбите си (независимо дали литературни или филмови) социален оттенък, отразяващ определени обществени тенденции. Свеждането на колективното човешко съществуване до материални придобивки е една от болестите на съвремието с най-много недиагностицирани пациенти – липсата на ценности и критично мислене е сред нейните преки производни. Лошият музикален вкус също се явява като често срещан страничен ефект.
Какво искаш да остане след думите?
Тишина, а може би многоточие…
Къде отиват ненаписаните истории?
Крият се между редовете на написаните след тях! 🙂
SUNSETS IN AUBAGNE
the sun sets
with a last sharp scream.
the church bell tolls
and the crows perched on it
fall,
stunned in their brief sleep.
every window is barred:
there’s no way out, no way in.
behind the façades everything crumbles,
the church strikes midnight now
and the crows caw louder than before.
the town sleeps but doesn’t dream.
and the days drag through it;
the days and the nights.
Translated by Tom Phillips
MEETING
long chestnut hair
big brown eyes
elongated neck.
evening gown. black.
you see me.
who are you?
we’re alone in the tram
at midnight;
your eyes whisper
come.
the place beside you is free.
it’s empty. we’re empty.
the emptiness doesn’t hurt;
the emptiness doesn’t love.
the lights are being washed away in the window,
but you, you’re no longer there.
a last bus stop.
stop
Translated by Tom Phillips
Х
I don’t want to see you,
don’t keep asking me.
good friends are everything,
but not what I want.
and no, I won’t change my mind,
even though I miss you so much.
it probably means nothing to you,
but I love you so much.
and I won’t hide
when you noisily come in with others.
without you it’s quiet in the room,
but with you it’s as if I’m raising my voice and
I can’t forgive you
for stopping me if I make to leave;
you tell me that we’re so close,
if I start to keep my distance.
so you miss me.
Translated by Tom Phillips
CIRCUS
I work in a circus
as a dancing bear.
I lie down, stand up, turn around.
applause.
where’s the fish? –
I ask at the end of the show.
in the cage it’s dark and cold.
bears don’t feel the cold –
the trainer tells the audience.
am
I
a
bear?
bearrrrrrr!
a little girl cries
from the back rows
and the cold goes away.
I work in a circus as a bear
I
don’t
feel
the
cold.
Translated by Tom Phillips
ARMANDA
“The uncertainty of the future made them turn their hearts toward the past.”
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
I dream of you when you’re not here,
when you’re thinking of another …
always alone in the silent room –
lady of the passionate storm.
and you don’t know how I miss you;
come, without you, I’d be lost.
stay … but only if you want to.
speak! just say the word
and we’ll be two in this life,
in every silent night.
and the clothes sewn with grief,
we’ll throw them in a corner unlit.
but of you there are no signs,
I only find you in sleep:
you’re an unfulfilled dream
that I will love without conditions.
Translated by Tom Phillips
FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT HERE
loneliness enters my room.
it speaks to me.
its voice echoes.
echo
echo
silence.
I watch over it
without seeing.
I miss everyone
who’s not here.
who never has been.
their shadows come and go.
we speak, fall silent, separate:
until the following evening,
and we’ll never meet any more.
it’s starting to rain;
rain, snow, hail.
and I was thinking
that it would always be sunny;
even in my room.
Translated by Tom Phillips
YOU AND I
your breath in my ear
when I’m falling asleep reminds me
that I’m still alive.
the world is quiet
and too noisy,
we hide from it at night,
in its stars. moon.
and say things to each other
we’ll no longer remember
the following morning.
the words fade away into
the walls of the room.
that will remember us –
I thought to myself.
Translated by Tom Phillips
CHILDHOOD
the girl by the river
watches the water with
wide open eyes.
yesterday she was 10.
today she’s 20.
tomorrow she’ll be 30.
the day after that she might not be
beside the river
in the park
where the children are playing,
who after a day will be children no more.
as if it was only yesterday …
Translated by Tom Phillips
What is poetry?
Slightly inflated.
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Mileva