Poet Profile

Svetla Yordanova

Svetla Yordanova's first steps in writing were made in the newspaper Ustrem while she was a high school student. After that followed publications in the newspapers Borba, Narodna mladezh, Pulse, Literaturen vestnik, and Gornooriahovsko slovo.  She collaborated with the magazines Plamak, Iantra, Svetlostrui, Chitalishte, Uchastie, Ptitsi v noshtta , etc. and participated actively in the literature readings in her native town, in the region, and in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.  In 1998, Svetla lived in Bailey, Colorado, USA, where she wrote her fourth poetry book (see below) which is filled with her nostalgia for her Motherland. The illustrations of the book were made by her daughter, Elitsa Dragozova.  In 1999, the Central Library in Sofia asked her to donate her books for the needs of the library.  In 2001, Svetla was nominated for poetry by the club "Intellect - 2000".  At the same time she continued to work as a primary teacher in her native town.  In July 2001, she left for the second time for the USA with her son, Bozhidar (Darko). In April 2002, the newspaper Iantra - V. Tarnovo printed an interview with the Svetla.  At that time, she was living in Golden, Colorado, a sister city of the town of Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria.  Later that year, she settled in Maryland.  Since 2005, Svetla has been a member of the poetry website www.poets.com in which she is known as "Svetla Sky" - (SKY is the abbreviation of her names).  In this site she received a high evaluation and is announced as a Poetry Laureat.  She continues to write and works in a food store in Baltimore. She is working on a new book in haiku that will be dedicated to her baby daughter Yordana and her husband Pat. She can be found on Facebook at http://facebook.com/svetlay1.

Awards and Other Honors: Thanks to Nela Angelova and Marcella Hill, Svetla's second book (see below) was included in a charity party in the house of the U.S. Ambassador in Sofia, and was distributed to readers abroad. In1996, Svetla received an official certificate for preserved author's rights of that book from Richard Freed, well known in U.S. business circles who paid for this himself. In 1996, Svetla received an award for one of her poems published in the newspaper Hubava gena / Pretty woman, after which followed other publications of her work. After publication of her third book, she was invited to participate in the celebration of the village of Arbanassi and was made an honorable member of the club "Intellect 2000".  In 1997, Svetla won a poetry competition organized by "Intellect -2000" from the town of Veliko Turnovo and in the newspaper Severniak in the town of Shumen.  In 1998, the municipal administration of Drianovo and the school Maksim Raikovich in Drianovo awarded her an honorary diploma for her participation in the National literature competition devoted to the 140 years anniversary of the school.  In May 2004, Svetla won the first award of the Third National Poetry competition in the town of Biala, devoted to the poet Peter Alipiev.  In this competition she competed with 141 other Bulgarian poets.  In October 2004, the Bulgarian newspaper Nedelnik in New York published an interview of the poetess with the Bulgarian journalist Violeta Solnikova from Pavlikeni, Bulgaria.  In 2005 Svetla won the third prize in a National Poetry competition in Sofia, Bulgaria organized by the cultural house Nikola Y.Vaptsarov.  In that same year, she won the second prize in a literature competition organized in her native town, G.Oriahovitsa, Bulgaria.  In 2006, Svetla provided to the attention of an American publisher in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, her book Sacred Soul. The publisher approved it and reprinted it. Also in 2006, Svetla received an official invitation from the "International Society of Poets"- International poetry show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Books Published: The spirit of the fire (1992); Sacred Soul (1995; republished in 2006 in Pittsburg, PA) [in Bulgarian and English]; Izberi si igra / Choose a game (1996); Tears in Colorado (1998); Mislia sas sartseto si / I think with my heart (PAN-VT, 2002); Dreams in America [Editor, B. Kasabova, the famous writer and literature critic from Sofia.] (Faber, Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria, 2002); The birthday of the rain [which book she devoted to her mother Yordana] (Avangard Print, Russe, Bulgaria, 2006).

The monastery rings - 
the rain sings...
The rainbow paints hopes.

A nostalgic illusion - 
a cloud over Baltimore
from the rain in Bulgaria.

A morning in May - 
a tiny bee is drinking dew
from a clover meadow.

I walk over the rain
with an umbrella of sky.
And the rainbow is under me!

Credits: All selections are from The birthday of the rain (Avangard Print, Russe, Bulgaria, 2006).