On September 25 at 6:00 PM, the "Peyo K. Yavorov" Regional Library in Burgas will present two contemporary novels — "The Fabricator of Memories" by Abbas Khider and "Radio Sarajevo" by Tijan Sila.

Both novels have reached Bulgarian readers thanks to a translation by Ekaterina Dzhuteva. The stories unfold in two distant corners of the map — Iraq and Bosnia — but they share a common theme: war, memory, and a lost homeland. The characters lose their homes, their language, and their sense of belonging because of the violence they have endured, yet one thing in them remains unbroken — the ability to speak.

"The Fabricator of Memories" begins with a homecoming — the protagonist finds himself back in Baghdad, where memories of his escape, his losses, and a life split between two worlds resurface. "Radio Sarajevo," meanwhile, takes the reader into the besieged city through the eyes of a boy for whom daily life unfolds amid ruins, hunger and fear, but also amid music and dark irony.

Abbas Khider and Tijan Sila write without excessive pathos and without easy judgments. It is precisely this restraint that makes their books so powerful when they confront conflict, memory, and the dignity that survives after unspeakable horror.

Behind the translation is Ekaterina Dzhuteva, who was born in Burgas and has worked with Black Flamingo Publishing for several years. Translating from German, she has also brought the works of Zora del Buono, Birgit Birnbacher, Abbas Khider, and Tijan Sila to Bulgarian readers. Dzhuteva has a background in social work and psychosocial counseling, which gives her a particular sensitivity when translating texts dealing with trauma, violence, migration, and human vulnerability.

The event featuring the two novels will take place on September 25 at 6:00 PM at the "Peyo K. Yavorov" Regional Library in Burgas. Admission is free.