Biographical Note

Lyubomir Levchev was born in Troyan, Bulgaria, in 1935 and is regarded as one of the great poets of Eastern Europe. He has a long and distinguished history of commitment and service to literature and to writers. He served as Chairman of the Union of Bulgarian Writers, First Deputy Minister for Culture of Bulgaria, and Editor-in-Chief of the literary newspaper, Literaturen Front. He is a member of the European Academy of Science, Art, and Culture, and the European Academy of Poetry. His many international awards include the Gold Medal for Poetry of the French Academy and the honorary title of ‘Knight of Poetry’ from the French Government.

Levchev's is a unique voice—a poet, like his native Bulgaria, caught between past and future, East and West, who ultimately transcends this polarity. At various times sad, bemused, giddy, mystified, awestruck, and wise, it is often a lonely voice; and when there is no audience, he is content to sing to the stars. Like Shelley or other great Romantics, he speaks to us directly, a lyrical leap out of space and time. In the East it is said that "between one person and another there is only light." The world is brighter for the light that shines in this work.—Richard Harteis and William Meredith

Levchev is a world-class poet of irony, historical depth, humor, and great compassion, watching with wistful amusement, as in his celebrated "Roofs," while the world shifts beneath his feet. —John Balaban

People in the streets of Bulgaria greet their national poet "Lyubo" with love and respect. In him the words "poet" and "conscience" are twins.—Yevgeny Yevtushenko

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