Six writers from Burgas are among 50 Bulgarian poets and writers in the anthology "50 Voices of Bulgaria," due out in Bangladesh, the Burgas Writers' Community says. The book is being printed now and should come out soon, though no exact date has been set.

Gina Dundova-Pancheva and Syed Khan compiled and edited the anthology, with the Glory Future Foundation behind the project. Rozalia Alexandrova also helped put it together.

The Burgas writers in the anthology are Roza Boyanova, Elka Vasileva, Natalia Nedyalkova, Matey Markov-Ebori, Mina Krasteva and Radka Atanasova Topalova. The group says it is one of the country's leading writers' associations.

Syed Khan says the book is more than just an anthology. It brings together the voices of 50 Bulgarian poets and writers, becoming a literary journey through Bulgarian poetry, emotion, thought, culture, humanity, love, peace and life experience. One of his biggest hopes for the project is to build bridges between people and countries through literature.

"Poetry can travel where people cannot. A poem needs no passport. A poem needs no visa," Khan said.

He hopes Bulgarian poetry will find readers far beyond Bulgaria, including in Bangladesh, especially among young people there. He says a student in Dhaka, Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Sylhet or a small Bangladeshi village may never have set foot in Bulgaria or met a Bulgarian. But through poetry, that student can step into an unfamiliar world and feel another person's dreams, struggles, love, hopes and emotions. Literature, he says, is one of the best ways for people to get to know each other.

Khan said he dreams of students at schools and colleges in Bangladesh reading these Bulgarian writers, learning about Bulgaria and growing curious about its culture. He hopes that one day one of them will say: "I discovered Bulgaria through poetry."

The anthology is expected to reach readers, teachers, students, poetry lovers and libraries not only in Bangladesh but beyond.