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Georgi Tenev

ゲオルギ・テネフ

Georgi Tenev

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1969-10-09 （Sofia, Bulgaria）
Nationality
Bulgaria
Languages
Bulgarian
Residence History
Sofia, Bulgaria

Career

Occupations
novelist, short story writer, playwright, film/TV screenwriter
Active Years
1994-2024
Affiliations
Sfumato Theater Workshop, National Academy of Theater and Film Arts (assistant)
Memberships
European Film Academy
Nominations
Askeer Academy Award nomination (2012)

Education

H. Konstantin-Kyril Philosopher High School for Languages and Culture
Year of Graduation: 1988
Country: Bulgaria
Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski
Faculty of Philology / Philological Studies
Period: 1989-1991
Year of Graduation: 1991
Country: Bulgaria
National Academy for Theater and Film Arts
Year of Graduation: 1994
Country: Bulgaria
Experimental class of Margarita Mladenova and Ivan Dobchev
University of Vienna
Period: 1996-1997
Year of Graduation: 1997
Country: Austria
Herder Fellow

Awards

VICK Novel of the Year
2007
Work: Party Headquarters
Organization: Vick Foundation
Result: winner
Elias Canetti Prize
2013
Work: Wittenberg Revisited
Organization: International Elias Canetti Society
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Party Headquarters

2006 novel

Deals with the social paradoxes of post-communist Bulgarian society using the Chernobyl disaster as a key metaphor.

post-communist societysocial paradoxesphilosophical dealing with memory
Translations
  • English (Party Headquarters, 2016), Spanish (Casa del Partido, 2010), German (Parteipalast, 2018)

Holy Light

2009 short stories

Science fiction short stories addressing political correctness, biopolitics, racism, reproductive rights, sexual difference, discrimination, violence, pain, eroticism.

biopoliticspolitical correctness/incorrectnessracismviolence
Translations
  • English (Holy Light, 2016, PEN/Heim Translation Grant)

Mr. M

2010 novel

Wittenberg Revisited

2011 play

Intelligent Stoppardian appropriation of Hamlet, premiered 2011.

ShakespeareBulgarian politics
Translations
  • Polish (Zły książę, 2015)

Bibliography

  • Epistola (1999)
  • The Agent's Fear of Recall (2000)
  • The Citadel (2002)
  • Wunderkind/Karamazov variations (2004)
  • Christo and Free Love (2005)
  • Party Headquarters (2006)
  • Christo und die Freie liebe (2008)
  • Christo, Castro, and Free Love (2008)
  • Holy Light (2009)
  • Mr. M (2010)
  • Casa del Partido (2010)
  • Światło Święte (2012)
  • Party Headquarters (2016)
  • Holy Light (2016)
  • Bulgarian Roses (2016)
  • The Writer's Wife (2017)
  • Parteipalast (2018)
  • Balkan Ritual (2019)

Adaptations

  • Alienation (2013, dir. Milko Lazarov)

Translations of Works

  • Translations into English, Spanish, German, Polish, French, Russian, Dutch, Lithuanian, Finnish.

Style & Themes

Literary Style
philosophicalpowerful imageryprovocative
Recurring Motifs
cultural and ideological void in post-totalitarian societiescounter-culturesfall of utopiassocial amnesiasquasi-religion and disbeliefbarbarism and revolutionHolocaustproblem of eviltheodicyenvironmental issues

Legacy

Bulgarian writer known for exploring cultural voids in post-totalitarian societies, fall of utopias, and related themes. Novels and plays translated internationally, winner of VICK Award, Elias Canetti Prize. Noted in The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare.

Trivia

  • Descendant of poet Nikolai Liliev.
  • Published in Granta and Words Without Borders.