It is very important for stories to be written and told: Bulgarian author Georgi Gospodinov

New Delhi: Memories can become a trap, a slow poison that may feel good in the beginning, but there may come a time you can’t get out of the past, says Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov, winner of the 2023 International Booker Prize.

Of the strong view that it is very important for stories to be written and told, he is also preoccupied with events of the present, with nations afraid of what the future might hold. In fact, he started writing his award-winning book “Time Shelter”, which looks at past, present and uncertain futures, when Donald Trump was elected US president and Britain was going through turmoil over Brexit.

“This is not an easy time. Hence, the plot in ‘Time Shelter’ is that all the European countries are afraid of their future and they choose to live in their past,” Gospodinov told PTI.

“The crisis of human civilisation is an existential crisis, not an economic crisis,” he said during a recent trip to India to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival.

“Time Shelter”, he said, starts with the main character Gaostki, a psychiatrist who has opened a clinic for people suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Each floor of the clinic is divided into a decade of memories where patients can visit different floors and relive the past decades of their lives.

After this, a referendum is held in Europe about which country wants to live in the memories of which decade.

“In the second part, the danger of the past comes to the fore. Every country wants to live in the past and people start losing their memories,” Gospodinov said.

Discussing the political realities of Europe, especially Eastern Europe, the Sofia-based author said, “The entire world is no longer a good place to live. But we are living and we are living in the past and living in the past is not a good thing.” Everyday life, he said, has changed with the (Ukraine) war in Europe.

“In Europe, we were told after World War 2 that war was impossible. That's why it's so shocking to see this war.

"That's why I think it is very important for stories to be written and told. You need to read about this part of the world to know it. We talk more about economics and politics, but we should talk about stories and writers.

He draws on the recent history of Eastern Europe and the unease in other parts of the world in his books, be it “Natural Novel”, “Physics of Sorrow” and “Story Smuggler”.

In 'The Physics of Sorrow' he writes of how sadness is spreading in Europe and the world, and how war is affecting people.

"Natural Novel" explores the life of a young writer in post-communist Bulgaria. In "Story Smuggler", Gospodinov looks at how smugglers, writers, and translators are all involved in transporting whatever may be desired, valued, missing, repressed, or forbidden.

On the question of how long can sweet memories of the past keep people engaged, Gospodinov said, “These memories can become a trap for us, they can be poisonous, slow poison. It feels good in the beginning but there comes a time when you cannot get out of it. The dangerous thing about the past is that if you live with it, it does not let you get out of it.

Discussing the displacement of people, their suffering and the impact of the ongoing war in Ukraine and the Hamas-Israel conflict, he said literature creates memories and empathy and can help humans counter false narratives and propaganda created by politics.

“If the world survives, the future of literature is good. Listening and telling stories is a healing method in itself, so it is very important to continue listening to stories. It's even more important to hear others' stories,” he said.

“Unfortunately, politics is important but people's lives are more important. If you keep people at the centre, we will move in the right direction.” Gospodinov, born in Yambol, Bulgaria, on January 7, 1968, says his childhood memories, his formative years from age three to 12, led him to become a writer.

“At this age, the feeling of empathy arises, at this age you hear stories of other things, of dogs, of cats, of flowers, of trees etc. This is a different level of communication with the world. And then as you grow up, you forget to have this kind of communication, you forget this language. I also tell my students how important it is for a writer to keep the child alive within themselves and to listen to the stories of others.” “When society and politics are going through a transition period, the responsibility on the writer increases... All my stories are about those people who are on the weaker side. There are historians to tell the stories of the winners. but a writer writes the stories of defeated people.” Among Indian literary figures, Gospodinov has read Indian folk tales as well as Rabindranath Tagore, Aravind Adiga and Amitav Ghosh.

Besides the International Booker Award, the Italian translation of "Time Shelter" has won Italy’s ‘Strega European Award’ for literature. It was the first time the prestigious award was given to a writer from Eastern Europe.