I did it. I went to my first con! Although, on reflection I use that term loosely. When BulgaCon is positioned as a club meeting as opposed to a convention, the structure and organization of it makes a lot more sense to me (as an outsider who has never been before).

The event itself was small. I’m bad with estimating numbers but I’d guess around 50 people attended — enough that there was always someone new to talk with, but not so much that I ever felt overcrowded or overwhelmed. In that way, it was a great choice for a first timer. Despite being small, the event featured two rooms with several interesting panels and guests from within Bulgaria and abroad. There was an English option every other time slot, which was great for me because though I speak Bulgarian, when we get into deep/theoretical conversations about books, I am out of my depth.

Panels That Inspired Thought

While there were several panels that dove into various topics, the following were my favorites:

• Farah Mendlesohn discussed humor and resistance in science fiction, focusing on The Female Man by Joanna Russ. To be honest, I’ve never read the book, but it’s now on my list. As someone who doesn’t write humor, it was interesting look at some of the potential for dry wit — the concept that humor is found when we press on an issue and do not pull back. That we can find wit in blatant honesty and unrestrained anger. If you want to see some more coherent thoughts on the subject, you can check out Farah’s blog post on the Glasgow 2024 site.
  
  The talk was especially interesting to me because I have seen unrestrained feminine rage making a comeback in horror lately. Anger is an emotion I’ve had a lot of problems with over the years — I was 30 years old the first time I allowed myself to be angry, and I am still very out of touch with it. So this exploration is something I am cautiously curious about.
• Ian MacDonald presented on the topic of time, suggesting that the way individuals in society interact with time now is on a short-term basis. He shared some of the projects concentrating on extending our awareness of time and the effects of our actions. He touched very little on his latest novel, Hopeland, but it was enough to put it on my to-read list. Overall, my favorite part of this talk was just how entertaining Ian was. I never expect writers to be funny and engaging, but his talk was absolutely delightful.
  
  I especially enjoyed the audience participation in this talk and the conversation around capitalism as short term thinking vs. capitalism overtaking long term thinking. I definitely think science fiction is one of the most important ways to explore the long now, and an important aspect of collective dreaming.
• A panel presented about their experiences at EuroCon and WorldCon this year. It was interesting to get a Bulgarian perspective on these larger events and the placement of Bulgarian writing on a global scale. Of special interest to me was the discussion around recent scandals with the Hugo awards, and how they differed slightly from the discussions I’ve had in my writing groups.
• Joro Penchev presented about mysticism in science fiction and fantasy. I have to say that, of everyone there, Joro was probably the most open, welcoming person I met. Although I didn’t get to talk with him one-on-one much, he made sure I got an English schedule of the events, and stopped to say goodbye as he was leaving. (That this was the bar for hospitality says something else about the event, but I have only good impressions of Joro). His talk focused mainly on the history and definitions of mysticism and then talked a little bit about how it is presented in books. The key point that I enjoyed, though, is that writing and reading in itself is a form of mysticism — that the act of “booking” allows us to reach a greater truth/wider existence.
• Kancho Kozhuharov presented on AI and the death of “virtual reality”. (VR being the world we make up in media). I was very torn on this presentation. He started by dragging the Gabrovo Theater’s version of Dorian Gray, which I happen to think is one of the best takes on the book I have ever seen. His opinion was that it was more concerned with spectacle than art. But for me, these two things are not mutually exclusive, and the depth that the playwright, producers, and actors took the material was fresh and meaningful.
  
  He had a strongly anti-AI stance, which of course I support. It was interesting to hear the audience present pro-AI ideas, and a little sad to hear them say things like “we don’t have enough Bulgarian translators or writers, so AI will benefit our book market.” This hurts my heart. Bulgarian has some excellent translators! (Though I don’t read books in Bulgarian, I have friends who do, and they usually have their favorite translators — which is a sign of artistry as opposed to straight translation). Those comments made it clear that the artistry of translation is not as visible and appreciated as it could be if people believe AI could replace the human translators.
  
  However, Kancho lost me at the end of his lecture when, for no reason, he decided to drag horror writers — comparing us to AI, and saying that horror writing is neurotic and self-serving. I was livid, and it took me about half an hour to cool off. But, I should expect it. In many circles, horror is still the unwanted stepchild in speculative fiction. This was somewhat the case at BulgaCon. While there were some horror books available, there was not much discussion of horror. Even the few panels that included horror in the title did not touch on horror.

Overall, the panels were engaging and informative, and I often found myself sitting alone afterwards to digest information and integrate ideas.

Presenting Mazi

When it came time to present my book, I was a bit terrified. Authors were paired up according to order of registration, so I was randomly paired with Georgi Atanasov, who presented his book of short stories called Rosi. He had a lovely, well-organized presentation and his book was family-friendly and wholesome. I feel like I gave the room whiplash when it was my turn to present. I switched genres, tone, and language.

But it was lovely to see some people sit up when I presented Mazi as erotic horror. Eyes widened. Little smiles formed. It was a lovely reaction, and I felt very welcomed in that moment. In the end, a few people asked questions — mostly about erotic horror as a genre — and a few people bought the book. I can only hope they like it!

Some Feedback

Because this does not seem like the type of event that will send out a feedback survey, I will give some tidbits of feedback to the organizers. First, I want to say thank you for organizing the event. It is obviously a work of love and dedication, and it was lovely to have a space to meet Bulgarian writers, translators, and enthusiasts. Some things to consider:

• Availability of information. As a first time participant, I found the lack of information unsettling. Little things like what to expect during the event, what kinds of amenities are at the venue, and even what the entry cost is (or isn’t) is helpful when deciding to attend. I still wasn’t sure if I would be charged for entry the day I showed up! You might also consider including the goals/purpose of the gathering on the website.
• Registration/welcoming. There was no one manning the registration table throughout the event. When I showed up as a newcomer, I had no idea where to go/what to do. I saw the poster outside, but I had no idea that the event was on the second floor. As a participating author, I was unsure if I could leave my books out with the others on display. I wasn’t sure if I needed to sign in or if my online registration was enough. It definitely looked like you were running on a skeleton crew, so perhaps you did not have the capacity to have people volunteering to greet attendees. However, in the future, a public call for volunteers could make this a possibility. This extends to making sure that your panelists have someone able to translate changes in the schedule. I noticed a few times when you pushed panels by 10-15 minutes, and informed the attendees in Bulgarian, but did not have someone to inform the panelists.
• The writing contest. I was so looking forward to reading the first, second, and third place stories and poems, and I was so sad that you chose not to award first place for prose or first or second place for poetry. I do see that in the instructions for submissions, the jury reserves the right to not award prizes, but when there is very little information about how the pieces are judged or the purpose of the contest, choosing to not award a first place feels like a way to stroke the egos of the jury and to gatekeep writing — which I feel is so far from the idea of speculative fiction.

Takeaways

Overall, my experience this weekend was positive, and I will probably attend another BulgaCon. I think my most important takeaway from the weekend was a desire to contextualize my writing more fully with the wider world. Of course, I want to write something that will be talked about on a con panel someday, but I also want to challenge myself to really lean into the meaning of my writing and get back to the concept of writing as dialogue.