Inspiring creative journey of the author Danna Donku

On June 21 (Saturday) at 5:00 PM at the Center for Contemporary Art and Library, there will be a literary meeting with the writer, poet, and songwriter Danna Donku. The author will present her latest poetry collection "Love Never Sleeps," as well as the romantic and fantasy novels "Casta the Wild Heart" and "The Usurpers." Donku will share her inspirations between literature and music, read her poems and song lyrics, converse with the audience, and sign autographs. Admission is free.

Danna Donku is known to readers for her deep emotionality and figurative language, and to music lovers for lyrics performed by Stefan Ilchev, Mariana Popova, Emilia, and other popular performers. With the tenderness of a poet and the daring of a storyteller, she creates worlds where love is a force, and choice is destiny. In her novels, the heroines do not wait for salvation, but choose their own path - often thorny, but always true.

"Casta the Wild Heart" is a fairy-tale novel about the extraordinary power of the heart - that heart which recognizes no titles, borders, or fear. When Princess Castelia flees her palace, she does not realize that she will fall in love with an ordinary person, live as a servant, and renounce everything familiar - just to be free. A dreamer, naive and brave, she changes fates and kingdoms without even realizing it.

"The Usurpers" opens the doors to a new, fantasy world - expansive, aromatic, and dangerous. Magic and power, betrayals and passions collide in a battle where Kala and Amadea - two women, two destinies - fight not only for the throne, but for the meaning of their existence. Only one of them will deserve the power she bears. This is a story of inner faith, the strength of blood, and the ancient power of volcanoes - and how scents can be more dangerous than weapons.

Danna Donku was born in 1984 in Gorna Oryahovitsa, but lives and works in Veliko Tarnovo. She has a master's degree in philology with two foreign languages, but is a creative by vocation. Since 2008, she has been writing song lyrics in Bulgarian and English - her works are performed by Stefan Ilchev, Mariana Popova, Ivan Gaidarov, Kristiana Kirilova, Emilia, Nelina, Aleksandar Tarabunov (North Macedonia), and others. Among the renowned composers she has worked with are Krasimir Gyulmezov and Aleksandar Kiprov. Her song lyrics have participated in competitions such as the Bulgarian selection for Eurovision 2008, "Burgas and the Sea" 2013, "Ohrid Troubadours" 2013, and others. She is the author of the novels "Casta the Wild Heart" (2020), "The Usurpers" (2021), and the poetry collection "Love Never Sleeps" (2023). She has contributed publications (prose and poetry) to numerous anthologies, including the charity collections of Charity Bar.