Rene Karabash

Irena Ivanova , better known by the pen name Rene Karabash (Рене Карабаш), is a Bulgarian writer and actor. Her work has been nominated for and received several Bulgarian literary awards. In 2026, her novel, She Who Remains, was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize.

Life and career Irena Hristova Ivanova was born in 1989 in the village of Aleksandrovo, in the Lovech Municipality. She attended school in Lovech, and received her bachelor's degree in French and English applied linguistics at the Veliko Tarnovo University. She studied literature at the Catholic University of the West in Angers, and received her master's degree in film direction from the New Bulgarian University. Her pen name combines her mother's maiden name and "Renée", a nickname she acquired in France.

She performed the role of Gana in the film Godless, which was presented at the Locarno Film Festival. For her performance, she won Best Actress. She has also published poetry. Regarding the work, Karabash said that she wanted to write about the violence of patriarchal society. She spent two years researching the book. Her main sources were books, including Broken April by Ismail Kadare, and interviews with sworn virgins. She said that although she did not travel to Albania, her realistic portrayal persuaded Albanian specialists at Sofia University that she had visited the country.

As of 2026, the novel has been translated into 15 languages. The English translation by Izidora Angel was published by Peirene Press in 2026 and was shortlisted for the 2026 International Booker Prize. Angel won the 2023 Gulf Coast Translation Prize for her work on She Who Remains. She described the novel as both "structurally innovative" and "thematically astonishing", remarking that Bulgarian literature rarely deals with queer themes. During the novel's presentation at the , one moderator referred to it as "the first serious queer novel in Bulgaria".

Works Хлъбоци и пеперуди (Hips and Butterflies) - 2014 Писма на Омар до бъдещата му съпруга (Omar's letters to His Future Wife) - 2021 Някой ме вика по име (Someone Сalls Me by Name) - 2026

Honors Nominated for the for Hips and Butterflies, 2015 Awarded the for She Who Remains, 2019 Awarded the Prize for Translation for She Who Remains, 2023 Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize for She Who Remains, 2026