When individual and collective memories are suddenly nil...

- Talk-Think-Shishir Ramavat

- Georgy Gospodinov, Booker Prize Winner-2023

- Bulgarian author Gyorgi Gospodinov's novel 'Time Shelter' recently won the Booker Prize. His works have a lot of introspection, nature and autobiographical stories, magic realism and a sort of philosophical undertone.

So, this year's winner of the Atipratiti Booker Prize has already been announced. The English title of this novel, originally written in Bulgarian, is 'Time Shelter'. The author is, Georgy Gospodinov. The fifty-five-year-old writer's name is spelled as 'George'. In fact, public media has mentioned 'Georgi' in more than one place, but the name is pronounced 'Gyorgi' in the local Bulgarian language. If you remember, last year's Booker Prize went to a Hindi novel titled 'Ret Samadhi' by Geetanjali Sri. This year too, the award has been given to a translated work. This trend (if it can be called a trend) is good! 'Time Shelter' has been translated into English by Angela Rodel. The prize money of 50 thousand pounds (about 51 lakh rupees) will be divided equally between the writer and the translator.

Gyorgi's name was unknown to us until now, but he is well known in Europe, especially in the Balkan countries. Even before this Booker Prize, he was already an important creator in the contemporary European literary world. 'Time Shelter' (2020) is his fourth novel, but his first novel, 'Natural Novel' published in 2005, has already been translated into 21 languages. Another novel 'The Physics of Sorrow' (2012) placed Georgina among the leading European authors of the present time.

Gyorgy was originally a poet. According to critics, this is the reason why his prose is particularly poetic. It has a lot of introspection. There is a lot of nature and autobiographical talk, magic realism and a sort of philosophical undertone. The novel 'Time Shelter' revolves around this one question: What if our individual and collective memories were suddenly wiped out? We find the concept of time-travel very exciting. In time-travel you can stroll into the past or the future whenever you want. In 'Time Shelter', understand that the concept of time-travel is explored on a literary level.

The protagonist of the novel owns a 'Clinic of the Past', which treats patients with amnesia known as Alzheimer's. There is a large building, each floor of which is decorated according to a different decade. Brands of furniture, cigarettes and drinks, songs played on the radio are all according to the decade. Oh, every floor also has daily prints according to the decade. Admit an Alzheimer's patient frozen in a decade to that decade's floor and then treat it. Gradually the popularity of this 'Clinic of the Past' increases to such an extent that even wealthy people start entering it. They are a people afflicted by modern-day ironies. They want to become escapists and relive a decade they like from the past.

The question the author wants to ask through the novel is this: Do our identities and our inner dialogues need to be defined by memory? In this work, not only the individual stories of different characters, but the entire continent of Europe is woven here. Talking about how he got the idea to write this novel, Giorgi says in an interview, 'After Brexit in 2016, there was a kind of embarrassment, a kind of restlessness added to the air in Europe. It felt as if we were living in a different era. My background is communism, which talks about a 'bright future'. But after Brexit the situation changed. The way songs from the 'glorious past' started to be sung and became popular in Europe and America... it made me think. I know that both these things - 'bright future' and 'glorious past' - are like false coins, nothing special comes out of them. So it occurred to me that I should write a novel in which 'referendums on the past' are held in all the countries of Europe. What to do when there is no concrete future in sight? What situation arises when the past becomes an epidemic and consumes us? So in the novel 'Time Shelter' I started from the beginning of the Second World War and covered the decades up to the twenty-first century.'

It took Gyorgi three years to write this novel. His writing style is such that he jots down notes and thoughts in a notebook. The first draft is thus written in a notebook and the subsequent drafts are written on the computer. Many drafts are written before finalizing the work. Seven drafts of 'Time Shelter' were written. 'I believe our language is more intelligent than we are,' says Gyorgy. I was brought up in poetry so every word is precious to me. I write each sentence of the novel as precisely as if I were writing a poem. I don't like writing novels like this, where the chapters of the entire novel are planned out in advance, where exactly what is going to happen in which chapter. The story unfolds in its own way, the rhythm of the narrative flows naturally, I keep getting surprises while writing, I forget the path while writing and find my way back... I like that. In 'Time Shelter' we talk about the destruction of personal and collective memories, so this novel is written in this way.'

Gyorgy's writing has no fixed place, especially when writing an early draft in a notebook. He does not have his own study room at home, so he writes on the computer in the drawing room in the morning when no one is at home. 'I used to smoke a lot, but now I've given it up,' says Gyorgy, 'but I've noticed that if the story has captured the mind, there's no need for anything else when writing - cigarettes, coffee, alcohol, Dry fruits for chopping - nothing. In such a situation you have only one goal in front of you - that is, the flow of language, words should not stop.'

Gyorgi's books have been translated into languages ​​around the world, so he has a direct relationship with translators. He says, 'I become suspicious of a translator who doesn't ask me questions! A novel does not only have text, it has many references, slang is used. Also, in 'Time Shelter', the language also changes according to different decades. So I was worried how would this all come across in English translation? But Angela Rodel has done a nice English translation.'

Gyorgi makes a great point about translating fiction. 'Storytelling creates co-feeling, empathy,' he says, 'the world cannot be saved without empathy. Why do we write? To push back the end of this world as much as possible. So when translations happen, it feels as if we are working together to push back the end of the world. Our languages ​​are different, but the pains are the same. There is only one way to manage and respond to pain - talk about it. The more languages ​​the work travels to, the better.'

Gyorgi Gospodinov is a versatile writer. Apart from poetry and novels, he has also written short stories and plays. A short animation film based on his short story 'Blind Vaisha' has already received an Oscar Award nomination in 2017. There is a character in this story, one eye can see the past, and the other eye the future! The same filmmaker made another short film based on Gyorgi's novel 'The Physics of Sorrow'. Both these short animated films are available on YouTube. look at