Texas-based Bulgarian writer Miroslav Penkov wasn’t sure if anyone would pay attention to his first English-language novel, Stork Mountain. However, when the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative paired him with The English Patient author Michael Ondaatje, it gave him the boost he needed. Listen to A Word in Your Ear to hear an excerpt from Penkov’s The Half-Blood. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.