Sofia Literary Agency represents Bulgarian authors and titles in the field of literary fiction, poetry and children’s books.
Apostolova’s novel is the quintessential slow read — in its storytelling, its psychology, and the beautiful, unconventional language, a remarkable achievement in itself. It stands alongside the most significant works of recent years and broadens the directions Bulgarian literature is taking. I was thinking of Sally Rooney and Marieke Rijneveld, while reading, because despite its many local realities, this novel is ultimately European.
— Amelia Licheva, Literary Newspaper
We, Who Are Not Here is a lyrical autofictional novel and an intimate love letter – to a girl, a generation, a city, and the formative world of books, music, astronomy, and science fiction that shaped Bulgaria’s budding youth culture in the mid-90s. Rather than revisiting the familiar themes of political transition and social upheaval, the novel turns entirely inward, toward the emotional lives of young people discovering freedom while still bearing the legacy of their parents’ socialist past. Told through the voices of a 16-year-old boy and girl – one from a dysfunctional, the other from a loving family – the novel traces a story of young love and sexual awakening, of friendship and fatality, in which death turns out to be the truest narrator. At once tender and sensual, as well as bold and unsparing, We, Who Are Not Here is ultimately a tale of loneliness and salvation through words. And through the fragile yet absolute power of cosmic first love.
The novel received the Portal Kultura and the Burgas Prose awards and was shortlisted for the Peroto National Literary Award. The story was adapted into a short film and is in the works for a full-length movie adaptation.