Evoking the past and how it shapes the present has been the hallmark of some of the greatest writers in history. This year’s winner of the International Booker Prize is “Time Shelter” by the Bulgarian novelist Georgi Gospodinov and it’s been hugely successful not just in its Bulgarian homeland but also abroad. The character at the center of the book is a mysterious crypto-philosophical doctor who opens a clinic for Alzheimer’s patients which allows them to immerse themselves in a replicated era which they best remember, a way for them to reconnect with their memories.

One reason that the book got such visibility and recognition is in large part thanks to my guest today, Angela Rodel who is the translator of the book and a long-time collaborator of Georgi Gospodinov. As translator, she is the co-winner of the International Booker Prize. Angela is originally American, from Minnesota, and as she explains in the episode, she ended up in Bulgaria almost by chance thirty years ago and has built a real understanding of that country’s culture and language.

Here are a list of books Angela mentioned in the interview:

Great Bulgarian book: Wolf Hunt, by Ivailo Petrov (1986)

Favourite book I’ve never heard of: “The Deptford Trilogy” by Robertson Davies (early 1970s)

Best book of last 12 months: “Paradise” by Abdulrazak Gurnah

The book she found over-rated: “In Search of Lost Time” by Marcel Proust

The book she would take to a desert island: “Crime & Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1866)

The book that changed her mind: “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” by Ocean Vuong