Panel of Judges 2008
BULGARIAN NOVEL OF THE YEAR

 

Professor Boryana Hristova graduated at Sofia University in Bulgarian Philology and English Philology. Since 1994, she has lectured at Sofia University in Library Science, Scientific Information and Cultural Policy and has been a professor since 1998.
Her expertise has been sought in all national scientific programmes and others related to the role of the library and the book in contemporary society, too many to list. Some of these programmes include UNESCO’s The Memory of the World and Reading for All, as well as the programmes for the preservation of library funds. Organisations involved are the Open Society and the (IFLA).
A prolific writer, she has published no less than 150 scientific publications, publications on Middle-Age texts, reports at national and international scientific forums and reviews.

 

 

Meglena Kouneva graduated from Sofia University with a PhD in Environmental Law. She specialised in foreign affairs and environmental law at various universities abroad, namely Georgetown University (USA). Turku (Finland) and the Oxford Centre (Great Britain).
In 2002, she was appointed as Minister of European Affairs and Chief Negotiator of the Republic of Bulgaria with the European Union. Since 2007, Ms. Kouneva has been the EU Commissioner responsible for consumer protection.
In 2004, she was decorated with the Order of the Honorary Legion of the French Republic by French President Jacque Chirac. She has also been decorated with the Order for Civil Merits of the Kingdom of Spain and the Prince Henry Order of the Republic of Portugal.

 

 

Andrey Slabakov graduated in Directing from NATFA. He has worked as a producer, director and actor. From 1991 to 1995, he worked in Italy for the television companies RAI 1 and RAI 2. His films include award-winning A Train to the Sea and Perlovets – the River of Life, his documentaries Jews in Bulgaria, Ali Mehmed – the Lonely Poet and the Meaning of Life, as well the documentary for his father – the actor Petar Slabakov. In 1999, he won the Golden Hero debut award for his first feature film Wagner. His second feature film is Hindemith.

 

 

Professor Valeri Stefanov is Dean of the Faculty of Slavic Studies at Sofia University. He is the author of the books The Names of Time, The Storyteller of Modern Times, The Literary Institution, The Babylon Syndrome. Faces, Masks and Duplicates in Bulgarian Literature, Bulgarian Literature in the 20th Century, The Creation – Place under the Sun, as well as the novel short-listed for the Vick Prize in 2005, The Lost Donkeys. He is a member of the editorial staff of a number of academic collections and publications.

 

 

Professor Georgi Lozanov graduated at Sofia University in Philosophy. Since 1989, he has been editor and deputy editor-in-chief of the Kultura Newspaper, Associate Professor and Professor at Sofia University in the Journalism and Mass Communications faculty. He has also lectured at the New Bulgarian University and NATFA.
He is also a member of the Union of Bulgarian Journalists, the National Council for Radio and Television and until 2004, a member of the Council for Electronic Media.
In 2004, he was nominated by the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee and elected as Chairman of the Managing Council of the Bulgarian Media Coalition.
More than a hundred scientific studies and articles concerning the problems of electronic and print media, cultural studies, philosophy and aesthetics and more than two hundred articles in the field of media criticism, literature criticism and art criticism have been penned by him. He is also the author of eight television screenplays. Within the realm of media and philosophy, he has participated in more than 100 Bulgarian and international conferences.