The Black Sea Literary Festival brings together writers from five countries in a cultural dialogue.

The Second Black Sea International Literary Festival will be held from June 5 to 7, 2025 in Burgas. The event was created on the initiative of the Municipality of Burgas and will bring together over 60 writers, translators, publishers and literary professionals from five countries in the region - Bulgaria, Turkey, Ukraine, Georgia and Romania.

The festival will be opened on June 5 at 5:30 pm at the Peyo Yavorov Regional Library, which is the main host of the events. The program includes professional discussions on topics such as literature and politics, children's books, literary tourism, the challenges of translation and the opportunities offered by the European Union Prize for Literature. There will also be special literary readings with the participation of popular authors from the five countries.

Among the participants are writers such as Georgi Gospodinov, Kapka Kasabova, Zahari Karabashliev, Viktoriya Beshliiska, Katya Antonova from Bulgaria, Tudor Ganea from Romania, Tamara Duda and Pavlo Matyusha from Ukraine, Iva Pezuashvili and Archil Kikodze from Georgia, Ayşe Ovur and Ertuğ Uçar from Turkey. The festival will also honor the memory of Bozhana Apostolova, who recently passed away.

The event aims to create a platform for sustainable cultural dialogue and cooperation, opening new spaces for professional exchange and exciting encounters with the literatures of the Black Sea region. The organizers are the Municipality of Burgas, the Ministry of Tourism, the National Palace of Culture, the National Center for Books and other partners.

The program includes opening and closing ceremonies with literary readings, professional panels on key topics, as well as special meetings with authors. Among the discussion formats are "Children's Books from the Black Sea", "Literary Tourism", "Literature and Politics", "Freedom and Empathy" and "Publisher Perspectives".

The festival will also provide an opportunity to present the nominations of the countries in the region for the prestigious European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL). Participants will be Teo Topuria (Georgia), Halyna Matvieieva (Ukraine) and Bogdan Crețu (Romania).

The event will also offer special lectures as part of the partnership with the Festival of the Bulgarian Association of Communication Agencies (FARA). Among the lecturers are Rati Mujiri from Georgia on the topic "Communication Tools in War and Crises" and Nermin Molaoğlu from Turkey on "How to Turn the World Around".

The Black Sea International Literary Festival is being organized for the second consecutive year, aiming to promote cultural dialogue and international cooperation in the region through literature.