The Case of Cem by Vera Mutafchieva: A Conversation between translator Angela Rodel and Hannah Hutchings-Georgiu

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Tuesday 12th March, 7:00 PM; Sofia Gallery, BCI London, 188 Queen’s Gate, London SW7 5HL

The Bulgarian Cultural Institute London is pleased to invite you to an event with the translator Angela Rodel, winner, together with the great Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov, of the prestigious international Booker prize. Angela Rodel will present the first English translation of the Bulgarian classic from the 20th century – Vera Mutafchieva’s The Case of Cem. Angela Rodel will be in conversation with writer Hannah Hutchings-Georgiou.

It’s 1481, and as seen from the centers of power in Rome and Venice, the cultures of Europe are under threat from the expansion of the Ottoman Empire. When the exalted Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror dies, his eldest son, Bayezid, takes the throne. However, discontented factions within the Ottoman army urge Mehmed’s second son, Cem, a well-educated and experienced warrior, to oppose his brother’s ascension, igniting a ruthless power struggle and forcing Cem into long years of exile, a pawn for European rulers who are desperate to preserve the order they have imposed on the continent over the course of centuries.

The Case of Cem, Vera Mutafchieva’s celebrated novel of court intrigue, maintains lasting resonance for being a personal exploration of emigration and loss set in the historical era during which the politics of the East and West were sketched out with utter clarity. These early lines of demarcation, as voiced through Christian and Muslim emissaries, greedy leaders, unflinching soldiers, and lyrical poets, have indelibly influenced the world as we know it today.

Vera Mutafchieva (1929-2009) is one of the most influential Bulgarian writers of the 20th century and undisputedly the most prominent female novelist in the Bulgarian canon. A historian of the Ottoman Empire by training, Mutafchieva is known for her intricate historical novels that offer nuanced insight into the complex layers of Balkan history, with its Slavic, Ottoman, and Byzantine Greek threads. After the success of The Cem Affair in 1967, Mutafchieva shifted her energy primarily toward literary endeavors, writing 35 books that feature figures from Balkan history, ranging from Bulgarian tsars to the Byzantine princess Anna Komina. Mutafchieva’s works have been translated into more than a dozen languages and have enjoyed particular popularity in neighboring Balkan countries.

Angela Rodel is a literary translator who holds degrees from Yale and UCLA. Nine Bulgarian novels in her translation have been published in the US and UK, and shorter works have appeared in McSweeney’s, Two Lines, Ploughshares, Words Without Borders, and elsewhere. She has received NEA and PEN translation grants. Her translation of Georgi Gospodinov’s Physics of Sorrow won the 2016 AATSEEL Prize for Literary Translation, while her translation of his novel Time Shelter was featured on The New Yorker’s list of Best Books of 2022 and won the 2023 International Booker Prize. Since 2015 she has served as executive director of the Bulgarian-American Fulbright Commission.

Hannah Hutchings-Georgiou is a writer and the founding editor-in-chief of Lucy Writers. She edits all Arts sections (Art & Design, Books, Dance, and Creative Writing especially). She completed her BA in English Literature at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, and has an MA in Eighteenth-Century Studies from King’s College, London. She is currently writing up her PhD in English Literature at UCL and teaches undergraduate students in the department. She regularly writes for online magazines and platforms such as The London Magazine, The Arts Desk, The White Review, Burlington Contemporary, Plinth UK, The Asymptote Journal, Club des Femmes, Women: A Cultural Review and many others. Hannah has co-run a creative writing workshop for women for several years, as well as a feminist reading group. She writes about contemporary art & culture, in particular visual art, literature and dance.
https://lucywritersplatform.com/author/hannah/