12 and 13 May, 2022
Small Early Christian Basilica, 31A Knyaginya Maria Louisa Blvd. 

This year again, the Small Early Christian Basilica will open its doors to the language of poetry. Two poetry readings will take place in the unifying environment of culture, art and literature, accompanied by a cultural and educational seminar and a writers' forum. Contemporary creative messages will meet in an atmosphere steeped in ancient and medieval cultural heritage. Guests of the festival will visit significant places of Bulgarian history and spirituality such as the Bachkovo Monastery, the Thracian Tomb in Starosel and the Hissar Fortress.

"Orpheus" - Plovdiv 2022 Prizes: "Orpheus" - for an overall author's presentation; "The Lyre of Orpheus" - for a poem from the poetry readings; "Eurydice" - for a love lyric, "On the Trail of Orpheus" - for an essay from the writers' forum.

11 poets from 10 countries will gather in the Small Early Christian Basilica on May 12 and 13 at 6 pm - the two official ceremonies of the festival.

Despite the difficult situation in Europe, despite the crisis, the following poets will take part in the forum: Ataol Behramoglu /Turkey/, Jose Barionuevo /Spain/, Shota Yatashvili /Georgia/, Giuseppe Napolitano /Italy/, Puja Piyamvada /India/, Vyacheslav Kupriyanov /Russia/, Neva Lukic /Croatia/, Daniela Andonovska Trajkovska and Borce Panov /North Macedonia/, and the Bulgarians Gergana Zlatkova and Tillo Tilev.

Their works in their native language and in English and Bulgarian translation can be read on the festival website https://orpheus-plovdiv.eu

The two books of the Forum - the multilingual collection of poetry and the bilingual book of essays on "The Figure of Orpheus - Between the Moment and the Myth" - are also in print.

Orpheus - Plovdiv 2022 is a project of the Plovdiv LIT Foundation and is supported by the Municipality of Plovdiv as part of the city's 2022 Cultural Calendar.

For more information: https://orpheus-plovdiv.eu/