Thinking Literature in Translation
A ThinkPub Conference

➠ November 13 & 14 | Alma Alter Hall at Sofia University
Free admission with registration here

What are the gateways to exporting literature? What are the trends on the European market of literary translations? Does the international success of one author open doors for national literature? How do national funding schemes help selling rights? How does Tik–Tok influence publishers' decisions and readers' attitudes? Who is afraid of the artificial intelligence? 

The Thinking Literature in Translation conference will offer a platform for dialogue on these and other issues, bringing together the perspectives of 40 professionals from the field of publishing and literature from 13 European countries.

➡ Join the event on Facebook

The conference will be held in English. 

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Programme:

November 13 | Thurs

09:30 – 10:00
Registration & Opening Remarks 

10:00 – 11:00
A Snapshot of the European Translation Market. Trends, Developments and Challenges
— Anja Kamenarič (SI)
— Miha Kovač (SI)
— Yana Genova (BG)

11:00 – 12:00
Selling Rights. Publishing Opportunities Outside the ‘Big’ Markets
— Gergana Pancheva, Sofia Literary Agency (BG)
— Ivan Fedechko, The Old Lion (UA)
— Nermin Mollaoğlu, Kalem Agency (TR)
Moderator: Nevena Dishlieva, ICU Publishing (BG)

12:00 – 12:30 | Coffee break

12:30 – 13:30
What Is Success in Publishing Literary Works in Translation?
— Alicia López González, Automática Editorial (ES)
— Alma Čaušević, Beletrina (SI)
— Bojan Sazdov, TRI Publishing Centre (MK)
— Nevena Dishlieva, ICU Publishing (BG)
Moderator: Svetlozar Zhelev (BG)

13:30 – 14:30 | Lunch break

14:30 – 15:30
Marketing and Promotion of Books in Translation
— Aurora Payá Sánchez, Tandem Collective (UK)
— Ivana Stipić Lah, Goga (SI)
— Tedy Rafailova, BookMark (BG)
— Valentina Bozhichkova, Egmont (BG)
Moderator: Violeta Radkova, Elizabeth Kostova Foundation (BG)

15:30 – 16:30
From BookTok to Bookshelves: The Rise of English Language Book Sales in Europe
— Enrico Turrin, Federation of European Publishers (BE)
— Philip Stone, Nielsen BookData (UK)

16:30 – 17:00 | Coffee break

17:00 – 18:00
Publishing and Marketing Children's and YA Literature in Translation
— Biljana Crvenkovska, Chudna Shuma Publishing House (MK)
— Ivan Fedechko, The Old Lion (UA)
— Victoria Biserova, Enthusiast (BG)
— Zornitsa Hristova, Tochitza (BG)
Moderator: Desislava Alexieva (BG)

November 14 | Fri

10:00 – 12:00
Gateways to Translation
— Meet, Network, Learn, Organise: Professional Programmes and Publishing Fellowships at International Book Fairs – Michalis Kalamaras, Thinking (GR) / Limassol International Book Fair (CY)
— Home Away from Home: Creative Residencies for Literary Translators – Adriyana Paneva, Sofia Literature and Translation House (BG)
— Creative Europe: Circulation of European Literary Works – Yoana Krasteva, Creative Europe Desk (BG)
— Public Money, Public Outcome? Dynamics of Funding for Translations in Europe – Yana Genova (BG)
Discussion
Moderator: Svetlozar Zhelev (BG)

12:00 – 12:30 | Coffee break

12:30 – 13:30
Literary Translation in Academia
— Angel Igov, Associatе Professor of English Literature, Sofia University 'St. Kliment Ohridski' (BG)
— Daria Karapetkova, Associate Professor of Italian Language and Translation, Sofia University 'St. Kliment Ohridski' (BG)
— Maria Pipeva, Associate Professor of English Studies, Sofia University 'St. Kliment Ohridski' (BG)
— Teodora Tzankova, Senior Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies, Sofia University 'St. Kliment Ohridski' (BG)

13:30 – 14:30 | Lunch break

14:30 – 15:30
Thinking Digital Transformation: Digital, Audio and Beyond
— Adrian Păun, Audio Тribe / Cărturești (RO)
— Ana Klissarska, Storytel (BG)
— Raúl Pérez Grupo Planeta (ES)
Moderator: Nathan Hull, Beat Technology (NOR)

15:30 – 16:30
Thinking Digital Transformation: AI in Publishing and Translation
— How Does Machine Translation Work? – Rosalia Ignatova (BG)
— How is AI Navigated by Literary Translators? – A presentation of CEATL's AI Surveys by Ela Varošanec Krsnik (HRV)
— How Can Publishing Embrace AI? – Michalis Kalamaras, Thinking (GR)

16:30 – 17:00 | Coffee break

17:00 – 18:30
Thinking Digital Transformation: Who Is Afraid of AI?
— Ela Varošanec Krsnik, CEATL (BE)
— Enrico Turrin, Federation of European Publishers (BE)
— Luis González, Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez (ES)
— Milena Tasheva, Ciela Publishing (BG)
Moderator: Michalis Kalamaras, Thinking (GR)

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Participants:















Adriyana Paneva has been part of the Sofia Literature and Translation House team for the past two years, where she coordinates the foundation’s residency and events program. Her previous work experience includes projects within the cultural and creative industries, with a focus on fostering international collaboration and supporting initiatives in the fields of literature and cinema.

Photo: Yana Lozeva






Alicia López González is co-founder and full time editor at Automática Editorial. After working abroad in international business for several years and living in London, Beijing or Philadelphia, Alicia settled in Madrid and dedicated herself to publishing translated literature. Since its creation in 2012, she has been involved in more than eighty titles building a fine catalogue of foreign authors such as Liudmila Ulítskaya, Yan Lianke, Daša Drndić, Mesa Selimović, Yordán Radíchkov, Marek Hłasko and Vera Muftachieva.






Alma Čaušević Klemenčič is the COO and procurator of Beletrina, one of the largest and publishing houses in Slovenia, where she has held a leadership role since 2016. In 2021, she also became director of Beletrina’s tech-focused subsidiary, Beletrina Digital d.o.o., leading its strategic development in the digital publishing space. She is a board member of the Chamber of Book Publishers and Booksellers at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia. Alma is currently completing her MBA at the University of Ljubljana, School of Economics and Business. In 2021, she was selected as one of three finalists for the Young Manager of the Year award, presented by the Managers’ Association of Slovenia.

Photo: Mankica Kranjec


Ana Klisarska is the manager in charge of publishing at Storytel Bulgaria. She holds an MA in journalism from Sofia University. She has worked as a reporter and editor at Sega Daily and has been editor-in-chief of Zhenata Dnes for six years. She is part of Storytel since 2018.









Angel Igov is a Bulgarina author and translator from English. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at Sofia University. He is the author of Short Tale of Shame, The Meek (awarded the national Hristo G Danov award for literature) and Fine Dust Particles, and the short story collections Meetings Along the Way, and K. He has also authored the academic research Flags and Keys: Poetics of the Epigraph. As a translator, he is a twice-recepient of the Krastan Dyankov award for literary translation from English of the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation. Andreas Tretner’s translation of his novel The Meeks was nominated for the Leipzig Book Fair award and received the International Literature Prize of the House of World Cultures in Berlin.




Anja Kamenarič is a PhD researcher at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, specializing in Publishing studies. Her current research investigates the applications of artificial intelligence in publishing, with a focus on editorial practice, translation, and marketing. She combines professional experience from Mladinska knjiga, where she managed foreign rights, with a scholarly approach to examining technological transformations in the book industry.

Photo: Miha Tozon





Aurora Payá Sánchez is a specialist in children's literature with an extensive knowledge of the Bookstagram community and a degree in International Trade. In 2020, she began working for Waterstones in London. After a few years of training in the sector, she joined the digital marketing agency Tandem Collective with a deep understanding of both social media and literature. Since 2022, she has been responsible for developing digital marketing campaigns in Spain, and her goal is to expand Tandem to Latin America. Payá has also worked on global campaigns such as Don Winslow's The Force and other projects such as Christopher Paolini's Eragon in Spain.





Biljana Crvenkovska is a writer, scriptwriter, philosopher by trade, editor and translator, one of the founders of the publishing house Čudna šuma (Strange Forest) from Skopje, North Macedonia. Crvenkovska writes awarded novels for children, youth and adults, picture books, short stories, essays and poetry, scripts for animated and TV series, and a movie. Her books are translated into English, French, German, Turkish, Albanian, Slovenian, Croatian, Ukrainian, Serbian, Russian, Polish, Czech. Biljana teaches creative writing and screenwriting and for children, youth and adults.

Photo: Kire Galevski




Bojan Sazdov is the Manager and Editor-in-Chief of TRI Publishing Centre in Skopje. As a publisher, he represents some of the most popular authors from North Macedonia while also being dedicated to presenting quality fiction from around the world. He is the current President of the North Macedonian Association of Publishers. Bojan has been involved in more than a thousand publishing projects and has organized North Macedonia’s presentations at international book fairs in Frankfurt, Paris, Leipzig, Moscow, and Belgrade.







Daria Karapetkova is a translator from Italian, an Associate professor of Translation theory at Sofia University and part of the management of the Master's program Translator-Editor. She teaches literary translation, Italian morphosyntax, and translation theory and criticism. She has authored three books and is a recipient of several national awards, as well as the Order of the Star of Italy for special contributions to the development of bilateral relations and the promotion of Italian culture around the world. Since 2021, Daria is a part of the programme team of the Sofia International Literary Festival.





Desislava Alexieva is a publisher, advocate for reading promotion, and creator of the FOX book café. She is the author of the podcast for audio readings of contemporary children's books Reading Foxes, founder of the Books and Children Foundation and the publishing houses Fo and Lisiche. She has been chair of the Board of Directors of the Bulgarian Book Association.

Photo: Veselina Velcheva







Ela Varošanec Krsnik is a Croatian literary translator from English and Spanish, working mainly on contemporary Latin American prose. She serves on the Board of the Croatian Literary Translators’ Association (DHKP) and represents the association in the European Council of Literary Translators’ Associations (CEATL). Within CEATL, she has been actively engaged with issues related to artificial intelligence, authors’ rights, and working conditions of literary translators. She was part of the task force that drafted CEATL’s Statement on Artificial Intelligence and, in 2025, was appointed coordinator of CEATL’s AI Working Group.

Photo: Edi Matić



Enrico Turrin is Deputy Director and Economist at the Federation of European Publishers. He holds a degree in Economics from the University Luigi Bocconi in Milan and a Master’s degree in International Affairs at ISPI, Milan where he has been ad Project manager and lecturer on International Organisations. In 2008 Enrico joined FEB as an economist in charge of the sector statistics and a range of other files. He is Deputy Director of FEP since 2012.







Gergana Pancheva is a poet and translator with university degrees in English and American Studies and Translation and editing. Since 2022, she has worked as the Managing Director of Sofia Literary Agency, the only organization of its kind in Bulgaria. The agency promotes and distributes the works of Bulgarian authors into foreign markets and currently represents more than 22 Bulgarian authors in the field of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and children’s books. SLA has successfully facilitated the translation and publishing of over 130 titles into foreign languages to date. Additionally, Gergana is the coordinator and initiator of the first edition of the Sofia International Literary Fellowship in Bulgaria in 2024.

Photo: Yana Lozeva


Ivan Fedechko is the rights sales manager at Old Lion Publishing House. He has been with the press since 2012, during which time it has grown from a small children's publisher into one of Ukraine's largest publishing houses and the leading exporter of Ukrainian literature abroad. He has represented Old Lion at international book fairs and participated in industry programs in Bologna, Frankfurt, Guadalajara, Seoul, Taipei, and Tokyo. The books he has sold rights to have been translated into over 50 languages. In 2023, Old Lion received the Bologna Prize for the Best Children's Publishers of the Year. He lives in Lviv with his wife, their two young children, and a cat.

Photo: Solomia Savka



Ivana Stipic Lah is an experienced media, marketing and communications leader with a strong background in global campaigns, product launches, and multi-channel content strategies. She has held senior roles in publishing, creative agencies, and media, successfully managing digital transformation. With expertise in strategic communication and storytelling, she has led cross-functional and international teams to deliver impactful campaigns across 20+ markets. Her career spans creative direction, PR, media production, and leadership in both corporate and international missions (EUFOR, ISAF, NATO), with proven success in driving visibility, engagement, and business growth.

Photo: Voranc Vogel


Luis González is the director of Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez and founder of PARIX, Spanish book industry School. Luis has launched several innovation projects, founded Readmagine, and is co-chair of the IPA's literacy subcommittee. He has worked at the Ministry of Culture and where he designed the first National Plan for the Promotion of Reading in Spain. He has a Master's in Fiscal Law and is the Vice-president of the Spanish Association of Foundations. Luis was awarded the Order of R.P. for exceptional services to the country.

Photo: Jeorsm




Maria Pipeva is an Associate professor of English literature, culture, and translation in the Department of English and American Studies at Sofia University. From 2017 to 2025, she is the coordinator of the Master's program in Translation. She has been a member of the jury for the Krastan Dyankov Translation Award, a lecturer at the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation's Translation Workshop, and at the Studio for Literary Translation at the Sofia Literature and Translation House. Maria Pipeva has authored academic publications, she is a translator and editor  of children's fiction, English-language humanities and artistic prose. She is the author of the book The Familiar in the Foreign, the Foreign in the Familiar: Bulgarian Translations of English Children's Literature, which was awarded by the Union of Translators in Bulgaria. 



Miha Kovač is a Professor at the Department of Library and Information Science and Book Studies at the University of Ljubljana. He has worked as as editorial director in the two largest Slovene publishing houses, DZS and Mladinska knjiga. He has authored more than fifty articles and four books on book history, reading and book publishing. His mass market book Read to Breathe was translated to seven languages, and his last book Is this a Book?, co-authored with Angus Phillips, was published in the Elements series by Cambridge University Press. In 2023, Miha is the curator of Slovenia Guest of Honour programme at Frankfurt Book Fair

Photo: Øystein Nordås



Michalis Kalamaras, with more than 15 years of experience in the book industry, is a publishing consultant, Head of Marketing and Content and partner at Thinking — an Athens-based consulting, design and technology agency. In 2008 Michalis founded eAnagnostis.gr (e-reader in Greek), a news and analysis website on ebooks and audiobooks, and the digital transformation of the book industry. He is also the curator of the professional programme of the Limassol International Book Fair in Cyprus since its inception in 2022.







Milena Tasheva is an experienced editor and publishing professional, currently part of Ciela Books – the largest publishing house in Bulgaria. In her work, she focuses on editorial strategy, connecting with readers, and finding new, creative ways to promote reading culture in the digital age. With over ten years in the publishing industry, Milena has been involved in many projects that support authors, readers, and help literature stay visible and relevant in the cultural landscape today. She often speaks about topics like innovation in publishing, cultural communication, and how literature meets modern media.






Nathan Hull is Chief Strategy Officer at Beat Technology and has launched audio services in over 20 countries across his times at Beat, Mofibo/Storytel and Bookchoice. Notably Nathan was also Penguin Random House’s Digital Product Director, with strategic responsibility for its award-winning digital portfolio and innovation strategy where he managed the audio division and managed the builds of their first in-house recording studios.








Nermin Mollaoğlu is the founder of Kalem, one of the largest literary agencies in Turkey. It is awarded with the International Excellence for The Agencies at London Book Fair in 2017, and in 2024 — the Sharjah Book Fair Rights Connection Award. In 2009 together with her husband Mehmet Demirtaş Nermin established ITEF, Istanbul International Literature Festival. She has visited 85 countries, mostly on the occassion of book fairs and literary festivals, and is proud to have read novels by authors from each country she has been to.







Nevena Dishlieva-Krysteva is a literary translator from English and owner and editor-in-chief of ICU Publishing. She has translated over 50 works by contemporary English-language authors, including books by Kapka Kassabova, Chris Cleave, Philip Roth, Jeffrey Eugenides, and Zadie Smith. For her translation of The Memory Artists by Jeffrey Moore, she was awarded the Krastan Dyankov Prize, presented by the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation. Her publishing house focuses on high-quality contemporary fiction, both Bulgarian and in translation. Among the emblematic ICU authors are Olga Tokarczuk, Chris Cleave, Colm Tóibín, Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, Elin Rahnev, Kapka Kassabova, Emine Sadka.

Photo: Yovko Lambrev



Philip Stone has worked in the UK books sector for more than 25 years. He joined the industry as a bookseller in 2000 and became charts editor of trade magazine The Bookseller in 2007, developing a reputation as one of the UK's foremost book market experts. After a five-year spell as Penguin Random House's insights manager, Philip joined NielsenIQ BookData in 2019 where his remit included producing the prestigious Sunday Times bestseller lists. The architect of Super Thursday, Philip now manages a team of publisher account managers and has regularly appeared on TV and radio sharing his book market insights.






Raúl Pérez has worked in media-related industries for over 20 years in companies like RBA (magazines), El País (newspapers) and CNN+ (TV). In 2011 he joins Grupo Planeta, the largest Spanish media conglomerate. As Digital Transformation Manager Raúl was charged in 2013 of coordinating the corporate digital strategy among all Group´s BUs. In 2020 he was appointed Managing Director of Nubico, Spain´s largest subscription-based digital reading service in Spain. Currently, Raúl is Head of Digital Business of Planeta´s Publishing Division. He has an MBA and Bachelor's degrees in journalism and economics.





Rosalia Ignatova is a translator and teacher of English. She has translated contemporary Bulgarian prose and poetry, as well as children’s literature. She has also worked on a project with INSAIT on translating data for the purpose of training the large language model BgGPT. She is interested in exploring the intersection of language, technology, and literary translation.








Svetlozar Zhelev is a literary expert, head of the National Book Center, host of the Bulgarian National Radio programme Our Day, lecturer in the Master's programme Translation/Editor at Sofia University, co-founder of the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation, creative director of the Black Sea International Literary Festival in Burgas and of Book Month in the village of Chavdar, two-time member of the International Jury of the European Union Prize for Literature, member of ENLIT. Svetlozar represents the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture on the Programme Council of the TRADUKI Translation Network. He is the author and co-author of several books of prose and one of poetry.

Photo: Nevena G. Rikova



Tedy Rafailova is a partner at the BookMark agency, bookstagrammer and blogger. She is the host of the radio programme Litera Magna on Radio Alma Mater and has her own podcast for books. Tedy is an author at the Azcheta.com media. As a digital marketing expert, in 2020 she starts the first Bulgarian  #Bookstagram academy for book lovers who want to expand their Instagram presence.







Teodora Tzankova is a Senior Assistant Professor at the Department of Hispanic Studies of Sofia University and holds a PhD in philology. She translates fiction and non-fiction in the Humanities from Spanish (Javier Marías, J. L. Borges, Javier Gomá among others). Her interests are in the vast fields of Comparative Literature and Literary Translation. Her latest project is on Intersemiotic Translation, particularly on ekphrasis in contemporary Spanish novels. Teodora is a board member of CALIC (the Academic Circle for Comparative Literature in Bulgaria) and of CEATL (the European Council of Literary Translators' Associations). Since 2017 she has been on the editorial board of the Philological Forum journal.




Valentina Bozhichkova is former Executive Director of the Bulgarian Book Association and currently Head of Business Development and Marketing at Story House Egmont, Bulgaria. She has extensive experience in organizing and promoting projects across the creative industries, including film, literature, and publishing. Valentina is passionate about fostering connections among creators, audiences, and cultural professionals worldwide.







Victoria Biserova is the founder of Enthusiast and Apostroph publishing houses, and since 2012 she has been managing the bookstore chains Greenwich Book Center and Greenwich Junior. She holds a PhD in Public Communication and Information Sciences and is a Chief Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication at Sofia University. Victoria is an advocate for reading and has initiated numerous initiative for book promotion and reading as part of cultural heritage. 






Violeta Radkova is the Managing director of the Bulgarian-American literary Elizabeth Kostova Foundation, which has been working for the development and promotion of contemporary Bulgarian literature for 17 years. She graduated in English Philology and holds a Master's in British and American Literature from Sofia University. Violeta's diverse experience ranges from working for the World Organisation for Animal Health to being a shop assistant and scriptwriter for a cooking show to creative director of an advertising agency. She has been working as a translator for nearly 20 years. She is also author of one novel and editor of several novels translated from English. 

Photo: Yana Lozeva



Yana Genova is a cultural manager, consultant, and researcher with nearly 30 years of experience. In 2001, she founded the not-for-profit Next Page Foundation for international literary exchange, which in 2014 launched the Sofia Literature and Translation House—an international literary translation hub that also runs a residency programme for writers and translators. Throughout her career, Yana has served on the boards of several cultural organizations, including as president of the European network RECIT and as a founding member of the Bulgarian online reading promotion platform, Knigovishte. With a strong grounding in civil society, she has also worked in the public sector as an advisor to the Minister of Culture and as a Deputy Mayor for Culture, Education, and Sports for the City of Sofia.

Photo: Yana Lozeva

Yoana Krasteva has graduated from Cultural Studies at Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski. Currently, she is a Project Coordinator at the Creative Europe Desk – Bulgaria, Culture Office, where she coordinates activities for project implementation and advises interested parties on European funding programs in the field of culture, as well as maintains the desk's communication channels.








Zornitsa Hristova is the founder and editor-in-chief of Tochitsa Publishing House. She brings her experience as a literary translator (Robert Frost, etc.) and journalist to book publishing. She is the author of award-winning children's books such as Golden Lion, Hristo G. Danov, Konstantin Konstantinov, and Peroto. Her works have been translated into Italian, French, Polish, Turkish, Serbian, Macedonian, and Russian. She prefers books with original ideas and depth.

Photo: Yana Lozeva





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The conference is part of the international ThinkPub — Thinking Publishing project, in which the Next Page Foundation is a partner. The project aims to help European book publishing better adapt to digital transformation and contribute to the sustainability of the book sector in Europe.

ThinkPub offers professional seminars, conferences, and informal training courses in five strategic areas —Management innovation, New technologies, Marketing innovation, Reading, and Translation — in over 20 European countries.

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The conference is organized by the Next Page Foundation in partnership with the Cultural Center of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", the Department of English and American Studies at Sofia University and the Bulgarian Book Association and is part of the ThinkPub — Thinking Publishing project, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union and by the National Culture Fund of Bulgaria.