Vanya Petkova

The memorial plaque on the house in Ezerovo, Plovdiv, where Petkova lived and worked from 1999 to 2009. The plaque was donated by the Municipality of the town of Purvomay, in 2010.

Vanya Petkova (; July 10, 1944 – April 26, 2009) was a Bulgarian poet, novelist, short story writer, and translator of Bulgarian, Ukrainian and Greek descent.

Petkova worked as a cultural envoy for Bulgaria's diplomatic mission to Havana, Cuba from 1974 to 1978 where she learned Spanish and received her PhD in Latin American Culture and Literature at the José Marti University, shortly after majoring in German at the University of Sofia. Petkova's paternal grandmother Anastasia Zhitskaya from Ukraine, and her grandfather - general Ivan Skander. left

"The Vanya Petkova House and Museum" in Ezerovo, Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The house where Petkova spent the last 10 years of her life, from 1999 to 2009, and where she wrote much of her work.

Vanya Petkova's Vinyl Record, released in 1982 by Balkanton.

Life Family history Born on July 10, 1944, during the immediate aftermath of the air Bombing of Sofia in World War II, to her father Peter – a son of Russian-Ukrainian immigrants, and to her mother Vassilisa – a half-Greek, half-Bulgarian tailor. Her grandfather Ivan Skander was an army general of Russian-Circassian descent who served under Tsar Nicholas II, and left Russia for Bulgaria shortly after the start of the Russian Civil War of 1917 as part of the white émigré, along with his wife – Ukrainian countess Anastasia Zhitskaya, Petkova's paternal grandmother. In the early days of Petkova's career, these facts allegedly served as the main reason for a ban imposed on her poetry by Bulgaria's Communist Party, although the official explanation was "due to erotic content found in her poems". The ban was later lifted because of Petkova's growing popularity in the country. Petkova was accused of "anti-communist propaganda and incitement of immoral behavior". The ban would be lifted a year later because of Petkova's growing popularity in the country. It is reported that Petkova had close ties with American social activist Angela Davis, writers Pablo Neruda, William Saroyan, and South African singer Miriam Makeba amongst others.

Petkova's house is Ezerovo has been turned into a symbolic museum of her legacy and is taken care of by her daughter and grandchildren.

Vanya Petkova is considered to be the only Bulgarian poet with an official phonograph record titled Vanya Petkova Poems, which was released in 1982 by Bulgaria's largest distributor at the time – Balkanton. The vinyl consists of poems recited by the author herself.

Vanya Petkova is also the author of a number of song lyrics, including Disco by Bulgarian rock-'n'-roll band Trick with lead singer Etienne Levy, Younga's Love by Margaret Nikolova, The Rabbit by Bulgarian rock band Dissonance, The Old Bells by Yordan Marchinkov (nominated Melody of The Year), and the symbolic anthem of the Armenian Community in Bulgaria titled Armenian Eyes and composed by Haygashot Agasyan, among others.

In 1991, Petkova was officially featured in the second volume of the American Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers, alongside Bulgaria's Elisaveta Bagryana and Blaga Dimitrova.

In 2005 Vanya Petkova was awarded with Bulgaria's Georgi Jagarov National Literary Award.

During her long journey, she got to know the likes of William Saroyan, Bulat Okudzhava, Yasser Arafat, Che Guevara's father Ernesto Guevara Lynch, Fidel Castro, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Angela Davis, and Miriam Makeba among others. The book Pirate Poems itself was also dedicated to Johnny Depp – the screen actor Vanya Petkova admired most, as claimed by her family. The book was republished in 2021 by her grandson, actor Joseph Al-Ahmad, in the United States.

Notable work 1965 – Salty Winds 1967 – Bullets in the Sand 1967 – Attraction 1967 – The Sinner 1968 – Nunche, Grandpa Kachi's Granddaughter 1968 – Contemporary Arab Poets, an anthology 1970 – Prediction 1972 – The Black Dove 1973 – Chestnut Love 1973 – Oli, Oli, Snail 1976 – The Reversed River 1979 – The Vow of Silence, 1980 – Venceremos - lyrical essays on Cuba, 1980 – The Blue Book 1981 – Triptych 1981 – In the battle between the two worlds. Documents. Volume II (co-author), 1984 – Thunder 1984 – Gypsy Romance 1988 – Earthquake 1989 – Forgiveness 1998 – Passions 1 2005 – Passions 2 2006 – The Sinner 1 - remake 2008 – The Sinner 2 - remake 2008 – Topics and essays in literature. - a series of topics and essays for Bulgarian students from 9th to 12th grade (co-author). 2009 – Pirate Poems - dedicated to Johnny Depp. 2009 – The Golden Apple - the last translation from Ukrainian, love lyrics by Dmitry Pavlichko. Posthumously Published: 2010 – An Armenian Song - a collection of poems in two languages published by Demax with the assistance of the Armenian Embassy in Bulgaria. The premiere was held on December 2, 2010, at the National Library in Sofia. The poet's daughter - journalist and translator Olya Al-Ahmed is the compiler and author of the foreword, the design is by Vanya Petkova's grandson - Joseph Al Ahmad. 2012 – And We Are Bulgaria - a series of short stories and novels. 2021 – Pirate Poems by Vanya Petkova - the American edition of Pirate Poems (2009), republished in Los Angeles, California, by Vanya Petkova's grandson - Joseph Al-Ahmad, and dedicated to actor Johnny Depp. 2024 – I Am Sirius - collection of poems commemorating 80 years since her birth. 2024 – God Is Love - her never-before seen secret autobiographical novel, published 15 years after her death. The novel was accidentally discovered in a hidden archive in her home in Ezerovo, Bulgaria, with a short note on top which says "To be published after my death". source: