Writer Vantseti Vasilev will present his new novel "Everything is Jazz" at the Writers' House, located at 1-3 Vola St., on Friday, September 18, starting at 6:00 PM. The presentation will be conducted by Prof. Dr. Kalina Lukova, and admission to the event is free. The meeting is organized by the Burgas Municipality, "Znaci" Publishing House, "Far-1946" Community Center, and the Burgas Writers' Community.

Dr. Rositsa Chernokozheva from the Institute of Literature at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences notes that Vasilev's new novel gripped her from the very first chapter, describing the prose as exceptionally intelligent, respectful, and filled with deep sensitivity and a sober perspective. According to her, the specificities of socialist reality in Bulgaria and the insurmountable longing for freedom are the factors that compel the author to emigrate. Upon departing for America, he sets out to conquer this new space, yet faces the question of whether it will bring him the freedom he dreams of. Dr. Chernokozheva emphasizes that although Vantseti's journey may seem fantastic, his biography is built upon raw realism and authentic factuality, requiring a great mobilization of spirit.

Vasil Slavov, a fellow traveler in fate and a fellow writer, sees in the book the emigrant's steps that follow Dante's circles—loneliness and the search for new meaning. He writes that amidst the scattered winter streets of the new city, the author-hero reaches the New York Public Library to rearrange that "homesickness" within his heart.

Vantseti Vasilev's life path has been heavily influenced by the history of his father, Dimitar Stoyanov (1910–1972), an activist in the anarchist federation in Bulgaria. His father's experiences—having passed through prisons and concentration camps such as "Bogdanov Dol," "Kutsiyan," "Mini Nikolaevo," and "Belene" both before and after September 9, 1944—and the fate of the camp inmates, serve as the source for plotlines in the writer's work. On his maternal side, Vasilev is the nephew of Mikhail Vladimirov, the first yoga practitioner in Bulgaria.

Vantseti Vasilev graduated from the Higher Institute of Technology and defended his dissertation in the Department of Mineralogy and Petrology. Following his emigration to Italy in 1988, he has lived and worked in New York since the end of the following year. His creative body of work includes the following books:

  • "Seeds of Fear"
  • "The Trains of Rome"
  • "Stories from the New York Public Library"
  • "Packing the Wind: In the Footsteps of Jean-Claude and Christo"

In 2017, he participated in the European project "Courage," presenting a collection of photographs, documents, items from his family archive, and copies of his State Security file. His literary activity is international—in 2018 and 2019, he read his essays at the Yale in Manhattan Royal Poetry Club and participated in festivals in Binghamton (New York State) and Swansea, UK. Additionally, he is a member of the editorial board of the New York-based publishing house Cross Culture Communications.