Vanya Petkova

Petkova worked as a cultural envoy for Bulgaria's diplomatic mission to Havana, Cuba from 1974 to 1978 where she learned Spanish and received her PhD in Latin American Culture and Literature at the José Marti University, shortly after majoring in German at the University of Sofia. She also studied Arabic in Damascus, Syria, and has also worked as a diplomatic interpreter at the Bulgarian Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan. Petkova has translated the works of a number of Western and Middle Eastern writers to Bulgarian and was a member of the European Writers' Council. Nicknamed "The Amazon of Bulgarian Literature" by critics, Vanya Petkova is widely considered to be the most cosmopolitan poet in the Balkans. She was fluent in seven languages and her work has notably spread throughout five continents and was translated to thirteen languages. • Illustration — Petkova's paternal grandmother Anastasia Zhitskaya from Ukraine, and her grandfather - general Ivan Skander. • Illustration — Vanya Petkova reading her newly released book The Sinner, 1967 • Illustration — Bulgarian poet Vanya Petkova with Palestinian leader and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Yasser Arafat • Illustration — Renowned Bulgarian poet Vanya Petkova with Ernesto Guevara Lynch (Father of Che Guevara) and the Guevara family in Havana, Cuba (1975) • Illustration — "The Vanya Petkova House and Museum" in Ezerovo, Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The house where Petkova spent the last 10 years of her life, from 1999 to 2009, and where she wrote much of her work. • Illustration — Vanya Petkova Memorial Plaque on her house in Ezerovo (Lakeville), Parvomay, Bulgaria • Illustration — Vanya Petkova's Vinyl Record, released in 1982 by Balkanton.

• Name — Vanya Petkova • Other Names — Hatija Sadiq Skander • Born — 10 July 1944 • Birthplace — Sofia, Kingdom of Bulgaria • Died — 26 April 2009 • Place of death — Parvomay, Bulgaria • Education — Sofia University, Sofia, Bulgaria; Universidad Popular José Martí Havana, Cuba • Known for — Salt Winds, Vow of Silence, The Sinner, Pirate Poems • Notable Works — The Sinner, Bullets in the Sand, Salty Winds, Pirate Poems • Spouse — Nouri Sadik Oraby • Children — Olia Al-Ahmed • Awards — Bulgarian Writers Union Award 1985; The Golden Century Award, 2005; Unifier Of Cultures (posthumous) 2019 • Memorials — Vanya Petkova House and Museum in Ezerovo, Purvomay, Bulgaria; Vanya Petkova Resting Place in Central Sofia Cemetery • Resting Place — Central Sofia Cemetery • Illustration — The memorial plaque on the house in Ezerovo, Plovdiv, where Petkova lived and worked from 1999 to 2009. The plaque was donated by the Municipality of the town of Purvomay, in 2010. • Illustration — The headstone of Vanya Petkova's grave at Central Sofia Cemetery

Born on July 10, 1944, during the immediate aftermath of the air Bombing of Sofia in World War II, to her father Peter – a son of Russian-Ukrainian immigrants, and to her mother Vassilisa – a half-Greek, half-Bulgarian tailor. Her grandfather Ivan Skander was an army general of Russian-Circassian descent who served under Tsar Nicholas II, and left Russia for Bulgaria shortly after the start of the Russian Civil War of 1917 as part of the white émigré, along with his wife – Ukrainian countess Anastasia Zhitskaya, Petkova's paternal grandmother. In the early days of Petkova's career, these facts allegedly served as the main reason for a ban imposed on her poetry by Bulgaria's Communist Party, although the official explanation was "due to erotic content found in her poems". The ban was later lifted because of Petkova's growing popularity in the country.

Petkova's literary debut was in 1959, when her original poem titled Dream was published in a local newspaper, and was noticed by established Bulgarian female poet Dora Gabe. In 1965 her debut collection titled Salty Winds was published, and between 1970 and 1973 she worked as an editor and editor-in-chief for Bulgarian newspapers Slaveyche and Literaturen Front. She also worked as a translator at the Bulgarian Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan – the homeland of her husband Dr. Nouri Sadiq Oraby, a Sudanese geography teacher of Nubian descent, whom she met as a student at the Sofia State University, and married in 1966. In 1967 they had their only child Olga-Jacqueline. The same year, Petkova published her second poetry book titled Bullets In The Sand, followed by her third and most popular piece The Sinner, which was subsequently banned by the Bulgarian Communist Party because of the verse "There! Sinner – I am! I say what I think and kiss whose lips I desire, and eyes as azure as lakes, and eyes as dark as hazelnut I besplotch." Petkova was accused of "anti-communist propaganda and incitement of immoral behavior". The ban would be lifted a year later because of Petkova's growing popularity in the country. The book was issued a year later without censorship, lifting Petkova's popularity to the highest levels in the late 60s and yearly 70s. Petkova was fluent in seven languages in total, starting with her major in Slavic Philology at the University of Sofia, followed by a minor in German and English. In 1974 she began a short-lived diplomatic career after being appointed deputy cultural envoy of Bulgaria to Cuba, where Petkova would learn Spanish and later specialize in Latin American studies at the Jose Marti Institute of Foreign Languages at the Havana University from 1974 to 1978. Although mostly known for her romantic poetry, Vanya Petkova frequently used her artistic skills in the fight against the injustice commited towards people of color, becoming an important voice against racism and xenophobia in Eastern Europe among artists. In her poem titled Ray Charles, dedicated to the legendary American musician Ray Charles, Petkova writes: "Talk to me of Ray Charles' America, that of the colored, of whose love I have born! And let the Blacks' deep voices keep blessing you all, when white America someday bursts open aflame! And when that happens my dear – Wide open your arms and better tell me the story of Ray Charles!". It is reported that Petkova had close ties with American social activist Angela Davis, writers Pablo Neruda, William Saroyan, and South African singer Miriam Makeba amongst others. From 1992 until 1997, Petkova lived in Ukraine – her paternal grandmother's homeland. While in Odessa, she translated the works of a number of Ukrainian writers and poets to Bulgarian, and began writing her autobiographical novel, titled God is Love, which remained unfinished. In 1999, Petkova moved to Ezerovo, a Bulgarian village in the Rhodope mountains region, where she spent the last 10 years of her lifetime until 2009, and where she created her last work, among which the short novel We Are Also Bulgaria, and her last collection of poems titled Pirate Poems – dedicated to American actor and musician Johnny Depp. Petkova's house is Ezerovo has been turned into a symbolic museum of her legacy and is taken care of by her daughter and grandchildren.

A week after publishing what would become her last book during her lifetime – Pirate Poems; On April 26, 2009, aged 64, Petkova died from cardiac arrest in the small Bulgarian town of Parvomay, located in the Rhodope Mountains. She would be laid to rest days later at Bulgaria's Central Sofia Cemetery. Petkova's memorial service was held on April 29, 2009, at Central Sofia Cemetery in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, with her husband Nouri, daughter Olga-Jacqueline, grandchildren Joseph and Nasser, friends, colleagues and admirers of her poetry all present. Petkova's resting site is in the Notable Figures' quarter at Central Sofia Cemetery Park. In the preface taken from Pirate Poems she writes: "Why have I called my poems "Pirate"? Because each one was stolen from the meager moments of joy in my wild and turbulent life. My poetry wasn’t composed in comfort, before a screen. It was born between slaps and fistfights, gunshots and knife-throws, handcuffs and bloodstains—in daring escapes, desert adventures in Syria and Sudan, aboard airplanes and steamboats, among thugs and outcasts, between outrageous children and ungrateful darlings, caught between Heaven and Earth, Life and Death. Born to pirates, I lived as one; piracy runs in my blood." –Vanya Petkova, (1944 - 2009)

• 1965 – Salty Winds • 1967 – Bullets in the Sand • 1967 – Attraction • 1967 – The Sinner • 1968 – Nunche, Grandpa Kachi's Granddaughter • 1968 – Contemporary Arab Poets, an anthology • 1970 – Prediction • 1972 – The Black Dove • 1973 – Chestnut Love • 1973 – Oli, Oli, Snail • 1976 – The Reversed River • 1979 – The Vow of Silence, • 1980 – Venceremos - lyrical essays on Cuba, • 1980 – The Blue Book • 1981 – Triptych • 1981 – In the battle between the two worlds. Documents. Volume II (co-author), • 1984 – Thunder • 1984 – Gypsy Romance • 1988 – Earthquake • 1989 – Forgiveness • 1998 – Passions 1 • 2005 – Passions 2 • 2006 – The Sinner 1 - remake • 2008 – The Sinner 2 - remake • 2008 – Topics and essays in literature. - a series of topics and essays for Bulgarian students from 9th to 12th grade (co-author). • 2009 – Pirate Poems - dedicated to Johnny Depp. • 2009 – The Golden Apple - the last translation from Ukrainian, love lyrics by Dmitry Pavlichko. • Posthumously Published: • 2010 – An Armenian Song - a collection of poems in two languages published by Demax with the assistance of the Armenian Embassy in Bulgaria. The premiere was held on December 2, 2010, at the National Library in Sofia. The poet's daughter - journalist and translator Olya Al-Ahmed is the compiler and author of the foreword, the design is by Vanya Petkova's grandson - Joseph Al Ahmad. • 2012 – And We Are Bulgaria - a series of short stories and novels. • 2021 – Pirate Poems by Vanya Petkova - the American edition of Pirate Poems (2009), republished in Los Angeles, California, by Vanya Petkova's grandson - Joseph Al-Ahmad, and dedicated to actor Johnny Depp. • 2024 – I Am Sirius - collection of poems commemorating 80 years since her birth. • 2024 – God Is Love - her never-before seen secret autobiographical novel, published 15 years after her death. The novel was accidentally discovered in a hidden archive in her home in Ezerovo, Bulgaria, with a short note on top which says "To be published after my death". source: