Pazardzhik in Speculative Fiction

The Bulgarian speculative fiction is in debt to the town of Pazardzhik, despite the prominent contribution of its citizens to the genre; unlike, for example the Turkish traveler and writer Evlia Çelebi (17 c.) who mentioned it in his writings. Very few Bulgarian speculative fiction writers have done this.

The first example dates from nearly seven decades ago: it’s no surprising that Pazardzhik appears in the speculative non-fiction report (sub-genre of pseudo-documental works that was once popular in Easter Europe but it is almost forgotten today) The Channel Plovdiv-Burgas by the naval captain N. Naidenov (1904-1988). It appeared in the popular science magazine Science and Technic for the Youth (6/1956). The author was a prominent figure in the Bulgarian naval history – he proposed to build the big naval port of Devnya, that still functions today. The trip described in the article doesn’t actually pass via Pazardzhik, the town is mentioned in passing as a source of the water for the monumental channel that crossed half of Bulgaria.

The famous humorist, the late writer Vassil Tsonev was born in Sofia, but mentioned Pazardzhik twice in his writings, making of it an example for a small countryside Bulgarian town (together with Pavlikeni, another not much different place in the north of Bulgaria). The first occasion was in The Truth. An Unprecedented Made up Story, Written with the Left Hand (Starshel library, 265/1978) and the second – in Spas Petrov Andreev Soars Through Space (Starshel library, 371/1987).

A nod to Pazardzhik can be found in Interstellar Brigade – another humorous short story signed by Screenwriter Chavdar Sotirov-Proudlysings and Operator Emil Gornishki (Technical Avangard gazette, 1982/11/11), publication of the Technical institute (now University), Sofia. The publishing institution’s name is codded in the abbreviation of a fictional education establishment from the story. The piece was clearly intended as fan-fiction to the Star Wars.

Finally, I would mention the story Night, although it rather belongs to the category speculative fiction in Pazardzhik, rather than the other way around. It was printed in the young adult’s literary magazine Native Language (1/1980). The author Yavor Kartalov was a student at the specialized police school in the town. Despite the expectations, the story has nothing to do with the policing; it’s not even a detective story. On the contrary, it’s real hard science fiction: the protagonists encounter a monster from the past awakening their interest to... paleontology! I wonder how many students of that institution, still existing today, could do anything like this.

The traditional Bulgacon story competition of this year promised bonus points, if the works are related with Pazardzhik, so there is hope that this short list will be expanded soon.

Valentin V. Ivanov

Aug 6, 2025, Garching