Dear Readers,

Let me take this opportunity to wish you all a bright and joyful New year and to introduce myself. My name is Jasmina Tacheva, a literary and theatre aficionado from Bulgaria who lives, works and studies in Buffalo, New York. I was lucky enough to have joined the Absinthe Minded team recently as a volunteer blog editor. I want to start by saying thank you for taking the time to stay updated with both Absinthe Minded blog and the print journal, Absinthe: New European Writing. 

I was introduced to Absinthe last year, when I saw an online announcement about the then current issue of the journal (# 17) and was exceptionally pleased to see that its main focus was my own country. I was greatly inspired to discover such a unique and powerful project which, I believe, accomplishes its task in a two-fold manner. First, it successfully remedies the proverbially elephantine rate of cultural exchange between Europe and America, but rather than stopping there, its team goes much further by introducing Absinthe's readers to the largely unexplored and unexposed (even in their own continent) literature and art of countries such as Romania (the focus of the journal's latest issue), Serbia, Slovenia, Hungary, etc. So, naturally, when I was presented with the opportunity to work with the Absinthe Minded team, I jumped at the chance. I am grateful to be welcomed into such an amazing community.

I can’t wait to be able to watch Absinthe Minded grow and continue uncovering the hidden treasures of contemporary European culture! I'd like to seize the occasion and invite you to join us on this exciting journey. Share your discoveries – tell us about the contemporary European writers, artists, filmmakers or events that interest you and become a contributor. Absinthe Minded welcomes any kind of creative culture-related commentaries, including interviews, book or film reviews, articles, award announcements, information about events or festivals, etc. For further information please send an email to j.tacheva@gmail.com.

Let me get the ball rolling by offering you a bouquet of the events that I personally think will be some of the European cultural highlights of 2013:

• The European Prize for Literature: http://www.prixeuropeendelitterature.eu/home.asp
• The European Union Prize for Literature: http://www.euprizeliterature.eu/
• Marseille's Year as European Capital of Culture in 2013: http://marseillecityofculture.eu/capital-of-culture.html
• Košice's Year as European Capital of Culture in 2013: http://www.kosice2013.sk/en
• The international literature festival berlin (ilb): http://www.literaturfestival.com/aktuelles-en?set_language=en
• The Gothenburg Book Fair: http://www.bokmassan.se/en/
• The Istanbul Tanpınar Literature Festival: http://www.itef.com.tr/en/
• The European Border Breakers Awards: http://ec.europa.eu/culture/our-programmes-and-actions/prizes/european-border-breakers-awards_en.htm
• a handy art calendar for 2013: http://art49.com/

In gratitude,

Jasmina Tacheva