Blaga Dimitrova is one of the most significant contemporary Bulgarian poets. An independent person and artist, she cannot easily be grouped with others in what is for convenience called a "poetic generation." With her collections of poems, several novels and plays, and many articles and essays, she is widely read in Bulgaria and has a prominent international reputation. At the same time, Dimitrova is one of the most outstanding personalities in contemporary Bulgarian social and political life. An author of strong moral concern, she creates works that are predominantly reflexive, but the intellectual quest in them is never allowed to overwhelm the artistic vision. A dominant characteristic of her ars poetica is her confidence in the Word--its magic, its creative potentials, and its ability to build up its own universe that coexists with reality.

Blaga Nikolova Dimitrova was born on 2 January 1922 in Byala Slatina into a family of...