I loved where I lived - a small mountain village called Pravetz. I loved the geography of it. It was ragged but spectacular in its raggedness. My apartment overlooked the main drag, where the shepherds took the sheep and goats every day. I lived there shortly after the fall of communism. People had lost their savings. Unemployment was high. People were really struggling to get by. Fifteen years later, I'm not sure I can speak to the Bulgarian worldview today. But life is still a struggle … although I sense a freshness among the young people.
RPCV RPCV Cynthia Morrison writes about Bulgaria
Big chill
Chicago-area native writes about Bulgaria
June 27, 2010|By Julia Keller | CULTURAL CRITIC
Cynthia Morrison Phoel grew up in the Chicago area, so she thought she knew a bit about cold winters.
Then she moved to Bulgaria.
"I slept in my winter coat," she recalls. "It's such an effort for the Bulgarian people to be able to afford to heat their homes. So they'd wait to turn on the heat until it had been below freezing for several consecutive days."
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Phoel, 38, who now lives in the Boston area with her husband and three small children, put those recollections to work for her in "Cold Snap: Bulgaria Stories" (Southern Methodist University Press), a new book of short stories about the lives of ordinary people in the country in southeastern Europe. She spent two years in Bulgaria during her service with the Peace Corps, teaching English. Here is an edited transcript of a conversation with Phoel.
Q How did you end up in Bulgaria?
A I was sent there. In Lake Forest High School, I decided I'd go into the Peace Corps. One month after graduating from Cornell in 1994, I found myself in Bulgaria. I knew absolutely nothing about the country.
Q Why write about Bulgaria?
A I loved where I lived - a small mountain village called Pravetz. I loved the geography of it. It was ragged but spectacular in its raggedness. My apartment overlooked the main drag, where the shepherds took the sheep and goats every day.
Q What are Bulgarians like?
A I lived there shortly after the fall of communism. People had lost their savings. Unemployment was high. People were really struggling to get by. Fifteen years later, I'm not sure I can speak to the Bulgarian worldview today. But life is still a struggle … although I sense a freshness among the young people.
Q Do you keep in touch with any Bulgarians?
A I do. I have a couple of Bulgarian friends who read each story as it was written. They're my Bulgarian editors.
Cynthia Morrison Phoel will read at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Women & Children First bookstore, 5233 N. Clark St., Chicago.
