The Bulgarian Short Story Collection [Photo provided to China Daily]

The Bulgarian Short Story Collection (Baojialiya Zhongduanpian Xiaoshuoji), a compilation of classic Bulgarian fiction stories, was recently published by People's Literature Publishing House.

The collection includes 41 short stories and novellas written by 18 classic Bulgarian authors, each with diverse literary styles, including Ivan Vazov, known as "the Patriarch of Bulgarian literature".

These authors and their works are from different historical eras, with the aim to summarize the Bulgarian literary history, as well as present the changing living condition of Bulgarians over a century.

The stories are selected and translated by Yu Zhihe, a senior editor and translator at Xinhua News Agency. Having worked and lived in Bulgaria for over a decade, he has a comprehensive and thorough understanding of Bulgarian literature.

In a recent public lecture, co-hosted by People's Literature Publishing House and Beijing Reading Festival, Yu talked about his translation process and the Bulgarian literature scene.

Out of his passion for the subject, Yu has been devoting himself to the translation of these Bulgarian literary works into Chinese since 2009. During this process, Yu researched the history of Bulgarian literature and the works which have already been translated into Chinese.

Although Bulgarian literature was first introduced into China as early as the beginning of the 20th century by leading Chinese writer Lu Xun, the number of translated Bulgarian literary works is limited, according to Yu.

"This is the first time any Bulgarian fiction collection has been translated and published in China. With this collection, I aim to fill that gap," Yu said.