Yordan Radichkov

Mina Petrova &

Laska Deliradeva
Human lives are
sentences written
with lots of love and
inspiration but plenty
of mistakes, and mine
is no exception.
However old and wise
they are, people still
make mistakes.
Biography
24.10.1929-21.01.2004
Yordan Radichkov was born in the
village of Kalimanitsa, situated in
the northwest of Bulgaria.

In 1947 he finished high school in
the near town of Berkovitsa.

After an early bout of
tuberculosis, he started out as a
local news reporter in 1951, then
worked as an editor for Narodna
Mladezh [People's Youth], the
official Young Communist
newspaper (1952-55), and as a
journalist on Vecherni Novini
[Evening News] in Sofia (1955-
59). He also contributed to
several other newspapers, and
Bulgarian Cinematography
magazine.
Journalism helps a lot, as it takes you to most
incredible places. Until I became a journalist, I havent
seen the sea and I didnt know what was it like.
Journalism introduces you to all kinds of people, to
interesting people.

Starting from 1959 till his late days he wrote around 30
collections of short stories and novellas, 4 plays, 2 novels,
parables and children's books.

Most of his works are written before the collapse of
communism in 1989. Some of them have been translated into
more than 30 languages and have been published in 50
countries.

His dramatic works January (1974), Lazaritsa(1979) and
Opit za letene(A Try to Fly, 1979) along with Sumatoha
(Bustle) have been performed in Austria, Yugoslavia, Germany,
Greece, Switzerland, Denmark, Poland, Russia, Hungary, Finland,
Czech Republic, United States of America, Romania etc.




He also wrote the scripts for several Bulgarian movies: Goreshto
pladne (Hot noon, 1966), Privarzaniat balon (The Tied Balloon,
1967) and the award-winning Posledno liato (The Last Summer, 1974),
which is possibly his most psychologically dramatic work - a story of a
man trying desperately to stay faithful to his own identity in a
dynamically changing world.

He was nominated for the Noble prize for literature two times.
Radichkov has been awarded a wide number of awards, both in Bulgaria
and abroad. He is a winner of the prestigious Italian prize Grinzane
Cavour 1984) for fiction and of the Swedish national Polar Star Award
(1988). In 1996 Malki zhabeshki istorii (Little Frogs Stories) won
the Hans Christian Andersen award for childrens literature of the
International council for books for children.





Work
A writer becomes a man who has what
to tell about
Although his earliest works were written in the socialist-realist
tradition, Radichkov soon adopted a new parabolic style.

In the beginning the literary critics could not perceive his
innovative for that time style. For almost 30 years he was
considered from an eccentric, an obscure writer to rare talent.

To talk about plot and composition in Radichkovs writings is not
appropriate. The action is not constructed as a connection between
cause and effect. His style of writing is very close to the oral
folklore tradition and to the natural manner of speech.

With all my heart, Ive been struggling, to say so, to legalize the
vernacular speech of the peasants, and not only the way of
speaking but the way people construct their stories too. All of this
I do on purpose because it is closest to my heart.

Radichkov doesnt like to express himself directly. His prose is
strange and grotesque, often on the verge of nonsencial.

A mixture of the fantastic and the real, Radichkov's works
combined images of industrial civilisation with those of a remote
mythical past, and were sometimes defined as a Balkan magic
realism.

His works have two characteristic features: deep humanism and
magic in everyday life. This magic is not coming from outside but
is a part of the human nature. Radichkov finds the magic in the
rural life. He believes that the contemporary world is incapable
of stimulating our imagination because it is too full of belongings.




The remote province is one of his
favourite settings. Cherkaski, for
example, that appears in his stories,
is a half-real, half-imaginary
Bulgarian village in the middle of
nowhere. It is a result of the
combination between the grotesque
and the reality of that time.
Nature has a very special place in
his works. Born and brought up in a
village he developed a strong
connection to it and became very
familiar with it. He was able to
recognize all kinds of birds, plants,
trees.
Many of his stories are named after
animals. For example: Memories of
horses, Goats beard, Little
Frogs stories, We, the sparrows,
etc.

Every character is unique - these are always the "small" people with
their everyday problems. They live in a poor, but cosy home or they're
blown by the winter wind. They're trying to fly on the wings of their
imagination and feel that lifting above the earth is wonderful.

The characters are usually good-hearted and simple people, sometimes
even losers, deaf-and-dumb, foolish villagers.
Their moto is dico, ergo sum (I speak, so I am alive). Speech is a tool
in every kind of situation against boredom, anxiety, difficulty in
understanding the world around.

Even though his characters are depicted with grotesque, Radichkov is
not criticizing them but pulling them back to earth. Although foolish and
sometimes ridiculous, they are compassionate to every other creature.
Humanism means to be able to recognize the pain.





Radichkov as an illustrator

The writer used to illustrate by
himself his magic world, not only in
his childrens books but even in his
works for adults.

He considered writing hard,
emotionally and mentally exhausting
and therefore he enjoyed drawing.

In his literary world, words turn into
drawings and drawings into words.
Dogs and foxes were the first
illustrations he made. Later he
started drawing frogs, dragons,
centipedes.
We, the sparrows
We, the sparrows is an emblematic
work of Radichkov, regarded as one
of the best childrens books.
In Bulgarian schools it is obligatory
for reading in second grade.
We, the sparrows is the only work
entirely illustrated by the author
himself.
Although it is generally considered
as a childrens book, it contains the
wisdom and the issues concerning
the world of the adults.
The book is full of metaphors and
idiomatique expressions adopted by
human speech and turned into
sparrows speech.



The book tells about the adventures of a flock of young
sparrows, who learn how to survive in the big world and how
to cope with difficult situations.

Each sparrow has its own identity and character, which is
reflected in its name: My dear sir a sulky sparrow
constantly using the phrase my dear sir; His legs are always
out a sparrow with too long legs that stand out of the
nest; Fatty, Little comma, etc.

The provocative drawings in the
text enables the transition from
speech to icon and from
pictogram to illustration.

Words and drawings are
interchangeable. The story fits in
the drawing and the drawing -
into the story, without repeating
one another.

The drawings are made with pen
or pencil, on plain sheets of paper.
The strokes are linear and simple,
all images are black and white.

There is a touch of humour in the
drawings. Often they remind of
caricatures and childrens
scribbles.

In his works, either written
or drawn Radichkov seems
concerned to keep the
childish flame alive. This is
why we can feel the naivety
when we read him or watch
his drawings. But it is not a
naivety coming from the lack
of experience. On the
contrary, it is a belief of a
wise man who is convinced
that the world should not be
taken too seriously.
"...Now I'm watching the
world with those same
eyes through which I've
seen it as little. That's
why the world continues to
seem mysterious,
secretive, somehow unreal.
Now I'm moving just like a
little child in an unreal
world. I'm not prepared
for the world of the
grown-ups, where the big
games are played and
everything is unforgiving
and angular."