They must have seen in you the talented editor and the talented writer. When your first book was published the writer Armand Baruh admitted before you that he had felt in you “not only the fire of the editor, but also the talent of a writer.” Your five fiction books demonstrate that.
When my first book “We were not born today. The philosophy of life of a shop” was published, with a brilliant positive introduction by Nikolay Haitov, all writers whose book I had edited came to congratulate me. There were 70 reviews. The most interesting thing was that critics of contrasting beliefs stressed the high quality of the book. After the publication I had many meetings with the public in Pernik, Radomir, Breznik, Trun and almost all villages of the region: Kladnitza, Divotino, Lyulyun, Byala voda… My readers were very proud and said: “We from Graovo are more than the shops. The title should have been “The philosophy of life of a Graovo man”, and not of a shop”.

But the wife of the main character is from Graovo and it is she who made him a philosopher. How did it happen? When I go to literary meetings I always tell an interesting story. The prototype of the wife of my character – the one from Graovo, every day, for 57 years, asked her husband, a shop, what to cook and she never followed his desires. But he was happy that she asked him at all. This is why I called my third book “The Deyanovs from Graovo”. Meeting the public in connection with this book, someone from the people present always identified himself with some of the characters. Constantine Elenkov wrote an article on the occasion of my 75th anniversary called “The fiery mark of Bulgarian national psychology” in which he says: “If you want to understand the Bulgarian, the people from Graovo in particular, you must read “The Deyanovs from Graovo”.

You are interested in more intimate problems, which find expression in your books.
For 54 years I have traveled round Bulgaria. I meet many people. I came to know many human stories. I am particularly interested in married couples, who have no children and their desire to be parents. I am moved by the plight of the children deserted by irresponsible parents. Hundreds of human lives leave a deep mark in my mind. To let some steam and drive away persistent thoughts about such people, I wrote “My father’s wife” (about adopted children). It underwent three editions and was translated into Greek, German and Russian. I also wrote “Encounters with sin”, about the plight of deserted children. Very moving in this book are two of the stories, describing the life of two such children – very talented, clever and industrious.

They graduate from the university and build wonderful families. “Encounters with sin” won the award of the Center of the Book of the Ministry of Culture among 90 other books and has tremendous success.

You are retired for 12 years already. But you claim that this is the most active period of your social and cultural life.
That is true. I still take part in the festivals of Bulgarian folk art at Koprivshtitza, the festival of the survakari and kukeri in Pernik and in “Pirin sings”. In connection with my books and especially those on folklore, I have regular meetings with pupils from schools in Sofia and the country. My communication with young people, their interest in Bulgarian folklore charges me with energy. In my free time I employ this energy for finishing my memoirs “Is it a life to describe”.

What problems and what personalities will be the center of your story?
A considerable part of this book is attributed to my 30 years of friendship with the big Bulgarian poetess Elisaveta Bagryana. I also write about the writers Anna Kamenova and Fani Popova-Mutafova, about Prof. Petko Stainov, the literary critic Vladimir Vassilev, about Acad. Michail Arnaudov, Prof. Hristo Vakarelsky, Prof. Raina Katzarova, Filip Koutev, Lyubomir Pipkov and tens of men and women, writers, composers, artists, who played a remarkable role in the cultural life in Bulgaria. Long friendships, accidental events at different times that I was witness to and that are an interesting page in the cultural life of the country for more than half a century.

And in real life? What do you like best?
Dearest to me is my granddaughter Elena who is 11 now. She is my true measure in my attitude to children, their desires, dreams and actions. I like to visit my native village and meet the people there, to talk with them. Every meeting with them is like spring in my soul.

Ekaterina Pavlova