Pencho Slaveykov (1866–1912)
The son of Petko Slaveykov, yet nothing like his father. Pencho was a European, a Nietzschean and the author of Song of Blood („Кървава песен“), an epic about the April Uprising (the 1876 revolt against Ottoman rule). He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature (for 1912, according to the Swedish archives). He died shortly before the decision.
Peyo Yavorov (1878–1914)
The symbolist with the most tragic biography in Bulgarian literature. Love, jealousy, the death of Lora, an accusation and suicide – his life was more dramatic than his poetry, and that is by no means light. “Two Beautiful Eyes” („Две хубави очи“) is among the best-known love poems in Bulgarian, sung and recited by generations of people in love.
Dimcho Debelyanov (1887–1916)
Quiet, gentle, killed at the front in the First World War. His poems about returning to the parental home and about quiet sorrow are among the purest in Bulgarian lyric poetry.
Hristo Smirnenski (1898–1923)
He died at 25 of tuberculosis. He wrote social poetry about the poor districts of Sofia (“Winter Evenings”, „Зимни вечери“) and, at the same time, humorous satirical columns under pseudonyms. He proved that a person can be both a revolutionary and funny.
Elisaveta Bagryana (1893–1991)
The first great woman poet in Bulgaria. She wrote about freedom, the sea and travel with an energy that can still be felt a century later.
Atanas Dalchev (1904–1978)
The poet of objects: the room, the window, the yard. His poems look simple until you stop to think. By then it is too late – they have taken you prisoner.
If you sat all the Bulgarian poets of the early 20th century around one table, the conversation would probably be about death, love and who hadn't read whom. It would get sad, but very beautiful.
Read the full texts (in Bulgarian): Anthology: Karavelov and Pencho Slaveykov · Anthology: Peyo Yavorov · Anthology: Debelyanov and Smirnenski