When looking back, can you clearly see the importance of the Bulgarian book for you?

I have never divided books into Bulgarian and foreign. They can only be good or not that good. When they asked Faulkner what brand of whiskey he preferred, he said that of two glasses of whiskey he preferred the full glass. If books could be divided into full and empty, I would say I prefer the full ones.

Which books have given you the most and from which books have you been able to take more than you believed it possible?

I find it difficult to answer this question because I think the book is written to share the loneliness of the lonely man. We all being lonely, the book becomes our companion on the road of life.

What is the destiny of fine letters now, and what could this destiny be in the near and in the more distant future?

The destiny is unenviable and will be unenviable for a long time to come.

The cultural crisis of today has its causes and its signs, but it also has a remedy that is basically universal. Perhaps, the purely Bulgarian specifics of this remedy remain out of focus?

I cannot tell.

There are many secrets to a book, and the author’s mastership tends to be among the most obscure. Have you reached a conscious explanation for yourself of everything that you have created – as creative art, besides a pure will, is also the product of the artist’s instincts, of the artist’s enigmatic and mysterious self that he deciphers only partially in his texts to the reader?

There are many secrets to a book and it is best when they remain secrets. When trying to explain (or decipher) them, we find ourselves in the situation of a man trying to explain why water is wet. Well, it is wet!

What has been the major source of hope and belief for you through the years?

I have always found belief and hope in my children and grandchildren. But not in the International Monetary Fund.

What is your vision of Bulgaria at the end of the 21st century? What does Time mean to you?

I see Bulgaria as it is today: mountains, rivers, a sea, fields, meadows, mountain fallows, forests spared from the ax, the air bustling with birds of passage. I also hope there will be a man or two saved from the winds of migration. Or else, what do we need Bulgaria for if the people are not here!

What is the weight of values created over the last hundred years, and what is the burden that these years have placed on us?

I would not venture to analyze the last one hundred years.

Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the destiny of the Balkans and mankind, and why?

I have a moderate attitude towards these things.

Is there any peculiarity of your character that you freely joke about in public? And does it happen frequently?

I think that folly is a blessing we all make use of.

What would you choose – if you had to choose today – between a bag of gold and an eternal book? And what would have been your choice 30 years ago?

Such a choice has never been offered to me – neither now, nor 30 years ago. And I don’t think it will ever be offered to me.

Do you think that in these times when the path to the reader is difficult and uncertain, new names could emerge? Could the experience with your own public recognition be useful today? How did you gain recognition, was it easy?

The path to the reader is always difficult. It means finding a path to the man and his heart. I consider myself lucky with readers. These were mainly young people, students and pupils.

Would you disclose your own anthology or collection of names of masters of the prose whom you hold in highest esteem – names from the Bulgarian and world, including Balkan, literature?

I couldn’t arrange my own anthology. My literature teacher in high school often talked to us about books and told us that when a man started collecting his own home library, he actually started making a very personal home bible. Such a bible I couldn’t make.
I don’t have a personal anthology or collection of names. When I was young I found it easier to say what I liked. With years these things get harder and harder!