Tag Archives: Sandorf Passage
She Who Translates: Stiliana Milkova Rousseva in Conversation with Translator and Writer Izidora Angel
Izidora Angel works magic with words. Her latest translation from Bulgarian, Rene Karabash’s “She Who Remains” (forthcoming from Sandorf Passage and Peirene Press in early 2026) ensnares you into a contemporary world of ancient patriarchal law and guides you through its perilous territory on an intense journey of identity (trans)formation, family commitment, and love. In this interview, Angel unravels some of the mysteries behind “She Who Remains,” discusses her choices and decisions as a translator, and hints at some of her own creative writing projects.
A Postmodern Historical Novel Reimagines 15th-century East-West Politics: Vera Mutafchieva’s “The Case of Cem,” Translated from Bulgarian by Angela Rodel
Long before postmodern historical novels such as Italo Calvino’s “Invisible Cities” (1972), Umberto Eco’s “The Name of the Rose” (1980), Christa Wolf’s “Cassandra” (1983), and Salman Rushdie’s “The Enchantress of Florence” (2008) captivated readers with their imaginative, thoroughly researched, and carefully plotted recreation of the past, there was Vera Mutafchieva’s “The Case of Cem” (1967).
On Mothers and Madhouses: Tatjana Gromača’s “The Divine Child,” Translated from Croatian by Will Firth
The Divine Child—or Božanska dječica in its 2012 publication by Fraktura—tells the story of a woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder as Croatian politicians violently endorse nationalism in the 1990s. It asks how a community reestablishes what passes for “normal” when every social agreement previously made has crumbled.