Miroslav Penkov

Miroslav Penkov, on winning the BBC International Short Story Award last week, marked his victory by saying, 'I need some water'. It was a charming aside that demonstrated his humility and gentle nature. He is a nice man indeed. Later that night, as we revelled in the power of the short story, he and I talked about football and about fiction. I managed to grab a few moments with Miro before he returned home to talk about his collection of stories, about winning the Award and what he plans to do with the prize money.

Congratulations on winning. How did you feel on hearing your name announced?

Thank you! I was very relaxed the whole evening before the announcement, because I genuinely, sincerely did not expect to win. My wife had asked me to prepare a few words, just in case, but I didn't, not even in the shower. The other nine shortlisted stories were just too fine. So when Clive Anderson announced my name, a funny thing happened - I was transported, momentarily, outside myself, then returned, but not fully - and for the next few minutes I was caught in this very odd state of limbo.

ambition is a good thing in writing... Did you feel competitive in the run-up to the announcement?

Not at all. I know that ambition is a good thing in writing - a force that drives you forward; but I also know that, contrary to what Hemingway wants us to believe, literature is not a boxing match, not a competition; it's a collaboration. For me, just being on the shortlist, receiving the opportunity to have my story read and heard by so many people, was already an award on its own.

Tell us about the collection the story comes from, East of the West...

There are eight stories in my collection and they all speak of Bulgaria. Some are about Bulgaria as it was during the Ottoman years and then as it was during the fights for liberation from the Turks. Others speak of the Balkan Wars, of the chokehold and fall of Communism, of what became of both Christians and Muslims in Bulgaria when regimes changed. Then finally there are stories that show the reader what's happening now, when so many young people leave for the West in search of a better life.

I'm not sure that the book has 'a mission statement'. Perhaps its author had a mission - to contain inside it voices that were strong enough to cross oceans and national borders and speak of Bulgaria in a moving way.

How do you put together the collection?

I wanted the stories in East of the West to tackle some of the major upheavals in Bulgaria's recent history individually, and through individuals. I wanted to write stories that, when read together, would complement each other, like pieces in a puzzle adding up to reveal a larger picture. Many stories I wrote, hoping to include in the book, never made it between the covers. They either did not fit thematically, or voice-wise, or were simply not good enough. I am, of course, not saying that the stories in all collections should be consciously themed or connected.

Everyone here is excited about J K Rowling's new book. Have you been caught up in the hype and will you be reading it?

The Casual Vacancy has not yet been translated and published in Bulgaria, so we'll have to wait and see. The Harry Potter series certainly excited many Bulgarians. Unfortunately, I myself have never read the Potter books. Surely I will one day.

The fact that the world is buzzing over a book, on its own, is not automatically a good thing. Not every book out there is worth reading just because it's a book and just because we believe reading books to be, generally, a good thing. But I am delighted that people are talking about J K Rowling. The Potter series have not just quenched some thirst in their readers; they've made many of these readers thirstier - for words, for literature in general.
 

I thought that, in an Olympic year when all borders crumble before the unity of human spirit, a story about the crumbling of borders and the triumph of this same human spirit over loss and suffering might be a good contestant.What made you choose this story to submit to the Award?

Lucy Foster, who works at Sceptre, the wonderful British publisher of my book, suggested I send this particular story. So I listened to her. And I also thought that, in an Olympic year when all borders crumble before the unity of human spirit, a story about the crumbling of borders and the triumph of this same human spirit over loss and suffering might be a good contestant.

What is the most important thing about a short story?

That there is no one single most important thing? That even the absolutely tightness of the rope of which many great writers often speak when describing how a story ought to stretch, disciplined and unfaltering, is maybe not so absolute?

What is the most important thing you try to teach your students?

Much like myself when I was their age, my undergraduate students are always surprised to learn that writing is actually rewriting; that a first draft does not a finished story make. As for my graduate students… now this is a tough one, singling out "the most important thing."

What are you going to do with the money?

Stuff it in a jar and bury it in the yard, at night, in secret.

What are your plans for what to write next?

I'm currently writing a novel. There, I think I've said too much already.

East of the West by Miroslav Penkov is out now (Sceptre)