Bulgarian Fiction in English

From the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation:

The Elizabeth Kostova Foundation and VAGABOND, Bulgaria's English Monthly are cooperating to enrich the English language with translations of contemporary Bulgarian writers. Through 2008 we are giving you the chance to read the work of a dozen young and sometimes not-so-young Bulgarian writers that the EKF considers original, refreshing and valuable. Some of them will be translated in English for the first time.

You can read a selection by Georgi Tenev here.

Monocle

The London-based magazine Monocle is quickly become one of my favorites and, if you're not familiar with it, is definitely worth checking out. The current issue is "devoted to building better cities, neighbourhoods and residences" and ranks the top 25 liveable cities in the world. Only a few US cities are on the list and they might not be the ones you'd immediately think of. The number one city? Tom Kennedy's Copenhagen. I'll just have to plan a visit soon.

Do you think Detroit warrants a mention? Well, how's this: "A bad example of neighborhood planning is Detroit, Phoenix, or any American suburb." Not too much to argue with, really.

The Death of Alexander Solzhenitsyn

The Associated Press has reported the death of Russian writer Solzhenitsyn:

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Nobel Prize-winning Russian author whose books chronicled the horrors of dictator Josef Stalin's slave labor camps, has died of heart failure, his son said Monday. He was 89.