Biography

Petar Denchev (1986) is a Bulgarian writer and stage director. He has degrees in Theatre Directing (2010) and Drama (2017). He also holds Р° PhD degree in Theatre Studies (2021) from the Theatre department of The Institute of Art Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. From 2017 to 2018 Denchev was a theatre director at the Dramatic Theatre of Varna. Since 2020 he has been working as a director at the State Dramatic Theatre in Sliven, Bulgaria. In 2022 he became an assistant professor at the Institute of Art Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

Denchev makes his first literary appearance with the short story Malakof, I Want to Grow Old, which won Altera magazine’s contest Extaz in 2006. It was also laterpublished in English in the American magazine The Litter Box Magazine (2010).

In the meantime, Petar won various poetry contests such as the second place at the national youth poetry contest Vesselin Hanchev in 2006 and once again in 2010.

His novel Just Like a Man Kisses a Woman He Loves was chosen by the Razvitie contest for the Best New Bulgarian Novel of 2007. The next year the same novel wonthe special prize of the national poetry contest Juzhna Prolet. In 2008 he won a second place at the Ciela novel competition with his short novel Simple Story.

Petar Denchev’s works have been published in various Bulgarian magazines: Capital LIGHT, Altera, Vagabond, Prostori, Stranitsa, More, Literaturen vestnik etc.

His novels The Small God of Earthquakes (2019) and Overwinding (2021) were both nominated for the prestigious Helikon award. The short story collection Stories from the Past was translated and published in 2021 in Serbian by Partizanska Knijga. The Small God of Earthquakes is soon to be published in North Macedonia by Antolog. In 2019 he was awarded a special prize for his contribution to the contemporary Bulgarian art scene by the Sofia Municipality.

Denchev’s short stories have been published in Serbian, Macedonian, Slovenian, German, English and Farsi. He was twice a visiting guest-writer at Kikinda Short - short story festival in Serbia as well as the Druga Prikazna and Bookstar festivals in Skopje, Macedonia. He has directed productions for most of the major Bulgarian theatres, working on texts by Edward Albee, Jordi Galceran, Sarah Ruhl, Molière, Shakespeare, and many others. His productions have travelled to festivals in Serbia, Romania, Kosovo, Montenegro and Moldova. His productions have been awarded atvarious national competitions.

Excerpts

• The Little God of the Earthquake by Petar Denchev, translated by Angelina Alexandrova
• Overwinding by Petar Denchev, translated by Angelina Alexandrova
• Love and Other Catastrophes by Petar Denchev, translated by Christopher Buxton
• Malakoff by Petar Denchev, translated by Denitsa Petrova

Interviews

• Love and Other Catastrophes, interview by Silviya Choleva

Contact

• Petar Denchev:
  Email:В peterdentchev@gmail.com

Related Links

• http://peterdentchev.wordpress.com (in Bulgarian)
• http://peterdentchevportfolio.wordpress.com (in English)