Biography

Nikolay Petkov was born in Veliko Tarnovo. From 1989 to 1995 he studied Bulgarian Language and Literature, Philosophy and Theology at the University of Veliko Tarnovo. Between 1998 and 2000, Nikolay taught Ancient Philosophy at the Faculty of Philosophy at the same university. During that period he wrote the books Arche – an anthology of Ancient and Medieval culture, and The Divine Names in the Philosophy of Proclus Diadochus. The major achievement of this book is the poetic translation – still one of its kind in Bulgarian literature – of three of the six philosophical hymns of Proclus: To the Sun, To Aphrodite and To the Muses. In 2002, Nikolay Petkov was ordained by Grigoriy, Metropolitan of Veliko Tarnovo.

Nikolay has also published two other books: the treatise-poem Ars Moriendi or A New Universal History of Infamy (1997) and the collection of poems Hymns and Monodies (2005). Other than being a priest, Petkov is a PhD student at the Department of Literary History and Theory, University of Shumen. His first collection of short stories, The Stadium of the Old Lady, was published by Ciela in September 2012.

Excerpts

• And an Icon for Kozmala by Nikolay Petkov, translated by Christopher Buxton

Contact

• Nikolay Petkov:
  E-mail: o.nikolay_divdiadovo@abv.bg