„I had mostly poor marks in Bulgarian language and literature. I got them because I could not possibly write an introduction, a body copy and a conclusion in an essay. I begin as I like and wind up the story as I like.” This is what writer Yordan Radichkov once said: a man who believed that word and language are the basics of Bulgaria's survival as a nation. We bring you more from his reflections on this topic kept in the Bulgarian National Radio Golden Archives audio files.

„From the entire human history what ultimately survives is made of either stone or words. In certain ways the word is in fact superior to stone. Temples made of words have survived fully intact, without even a single crack in them, unlike stone temples. In this country the word is still laden with magic power. Bulgarians have been well aware of its exceptional, infinite power. Arguably, we have survived 13 centuries of hardship to a large extent due to the word. In Bulgarian folklore there is the saying that a man should not be beaten with a piece of wood because this is the way to beat a brute, but that a man should be beaten with words.”

Born in the Northwestern village of Kalimanitsa Radichkov became a writer who showed no great regard for established rules in prose writing. Instead, he wrote to create alternatives. He was always emotional when talking about his native village. It was not far from the town of Berkovitsa but has long ceased to exist and is at the bottom of a dam. Kalimanitsa though lived and still lives in his superb works. Radichkov used to dislike too much noise surrounding his name. The love of his readers was perfectly enough for him, and he knew no hatred. Still, in one of his interviews Radichkov admitted he could not see a way how we could make this country a better place to live because such a place is created by kind-hearted people and we are not at all kind-hearted. In these times when we run like headless roosters and stones are threatening to collapse and destroy us, Radichkov's works urge readers to stop with self-destruction and to think about things in life that really matter. Man is a spelling mistake in God's draft and the longest sentence created by Him. Man is a creature who while correcting one mistake commits two fresh ones.

In 2001 Sofia University launched the nomination of Yordan Radichkov for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Over time other Bulgarian nominations have included Ivan Vazov, Pencho Slaveykov, Elissaveta Bagryana and Blaga Dimitrova, but unfortunately the distinction has not been won by a Bulgarian so far. Sadly enough Radichkov's subtly conveyed messages remained unappreciated by the Nobel Committee. This prize though would be more useful for the nation, not for the writer, as a token of national pride and patriotism.

At the end of his life the wizard from Kalimanitsa showed to Bulgarians how to transcend their egos and look at themselves from aside. Readers loved him though they often failed to understand him fully, as he urged them to rediscover the beauty of the world. To his last days he kept this flame in the eyes reflecting the purity and beauty of a sparrow's soul - one of his celebrated novelettes is about the life and thoughts of sparrows. He was not just a writer but was and still is a genuine teacher in kindness, love and altruism, despite that he was not talkative and shared his opinion if only asked to do so. It suggested that he truly understood and appreciated the power and meaning of every word that he carefully selected from the bustling beehive of his imagination. The BNR Golden Archives keep an interview with poet Rumen Leonidov on the occasion of Yordan Radichkov's death in 2004.

„Yordan Radichkov has passed away, and he did that during his favourite month of January. We have lost an extraordinary Bulgarian the likes of whom are born once every 100 years, and we have been so very lucky to live during his lifetime. His anxious eyes radiated wisdom and honesty. He loved the extraordinary things in ordinary people. He had a soft spot for oddballs, and was one himself. He looked at the world through the iris of irony, mastered the mystery of paradox, the magic of the parable, and was himself an exquisite allegory. He need not memorize or write down because everything he needed was stored in the bustling beehive of his imagination. Now, before we bid farewell to him, we cannot but tell him that we, the sparrows, are sick with grief because we have been fatally orphaned. We have been orphaned forever in the wilderness of the towns and villages that no longer have either warmed up chimneys or crumbs on windowsills.”

We have been orphaned and the process continues, as we lose men with a mission to lead us forward - to Truth and Meaning. The only thing we are required is to become aware of their messages and then listen to them. We however fail to act like this and Radichkov knew that. Here is the diagnosis he gave to us: „I think that for the time being at least amid this incredible isolation, we are like ground squirrels that live in the steppe and get their heads out of the hole only to look at the horizon. But once they notice even the slightest movement, they immediately dive and disappear in their lairs. Apart from being shut away we continue an existence in an incredible isolation.”  

English Daniela Konstantinova

Sources: fakel.bg, dnevnik.bg and a book with the writer's interviews, Roaming Words.