Ilija Trojanow (Bulgarian: Илия Троянов, also transliterated as Ilya Troyanov; born 23 August 1965 in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

) is a Bulgarian–German writer, translator and publisher.

Life and literary career

Trojanow was born in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

in 1965. In 1971 his family fled Bulgaria through Yugoslavia and Italy to Germany, where they received political asylum. In 1972 the family travelled on to Kenya, where Ilija's father had obtained a job as engineer. With one interruption from 1977–1981, Ilija Trojanow lived in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

until 1984, and attended the German School Nairobi. After a stay in Paris, he studied law and

ethnology Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). ...

Munich University The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

from 1985 to 1989. He interrupted these studies to found Kyrill-und-Method-Verlag in 1989, and after that Marino-Verlag in 1992, both of which specialised in African literature. In 1999 Trojanow moved to Mumbai and became intensely involved with Indian life and culture. He has lived in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, returned to Germany (Mainz), and then to Austria, where he currently resides in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. In the 1990s Trojanow wrote several non-fiction and travel books about Africa, published an anthology of contemporary African literature and translated African authors into German. His first novel, "''Die Welt ist groß und Rettung lauert überall''", appeared in 1996. In it he recounts his family's experiences as political refugees and asylum seekers. After that appeared the science fiction novel "''Autopol''", created on the Internet as a "novel in progress," "''Hundezeiten''", a travel account of a visit to his Bulgarian homeland, and books dealing with his experiences in India. His reportage "''Zu den heiligen Quellen des Islam''" describes a pilgrimage to Mecca. Since 2002 Ilija Trojanow has been member of the PEN centre of the Federal Republic of Germany. Among other awards he received the Bertelsmann Literature Prize at the

Ingeborg Bachmann Ingeborg Bachmann (25 June 1926 – 17 October 1973) was an Austrian poet and author. Biography Bachmann was born in Klagenfurt, in the Austrian state of Carinthia, the daughter of Olga (née Haas) and Matthias Bachmann, a schoolteacher. Her f ...

competition in Klagenfurt in 1995, the Marburg Literature Prize in 1996, the Thomas Valentin Prize in 1997, the Adelbert von Chamisso Prize in 2000 and the

Leipzig Book Fair Prize The Leipzig Book Fair Prize () is a literary award assigned annually during the Leipzig Book Fair to outstanding newly released literary works in the categories "Fiction", "Non-fiction" and "Translation". The Leipzig Book Fair Prize has been award ...

in the category of fiction for his novel "''Der Weltensammler''". Published in English as ''The Collector of Worlds'' in 2006, this novel was inspired by the

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

and travel writings of British colonial officer

Richard Francis Burton Sir Richard Francis Burton (; 19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, writer, orientalist scholar,and soldier. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as his extraordinary kn ...

, some of whose travels Trojanow followed to places in present-day India, Saudi-Arabia or Tanzania. In 2014, Trojanow participated in the writer in residence programme of the

one world foundation one world foundation is a non-profit aid organisation in Sri Lanka, which operates a school for more than 1,100 children, adolescents and adults. The project is financed with the proceeds from a guest house and from donations. The foundation is ...

in Sri Lanka.

Miscellaneous

In 2013, Trojanow, who has also written on

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...

and surveillance of citizens by government agencies in Germany, had criticized the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collect ...

(NSA). In the same year, he was denied entry into the USA for undisclosed reasons. He planned to attend an academic conference.Einreiseverbot für Ilija Trojanow: Willkür und Freiheit
''

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...

''. 1 October 2013 Upon intervention by representatives of the P.E.N. and the German cultural institution Goethe-Institut, he could finally travel to New York at the end of 2013.

Works

*''In Afrika'', Munich, 1993 (with Michael Martin) *''Naturwunder Ostafrika'', Munich, 1994 (with Michael Martin) *''Hüter der Sonne'' (''Custodians of the Sun''), Munich, 1996 (with Chenjerai Hove) *''Kenia mit Nordtansania'', Munich, 1996 *''Die Welt ist groß und Rettung lauert überall'', Munich, 1996 *''Autopol'', Munich, 1997 *''Zimbabwe'', Munich, 1998 *''Hundezeiten'', Munich, 1999 *''Der Sadhu an der Teufelswand'', Munich, 2001 *''An den inneren Ufern Indiens'' (
Along the Ganges
'), Munich, 2003 *''Zu den heiligen Quellen des Islam'' (''Mumbai to Mecca''), Munich, 2004 *''Der Weltensammler'' (''The Collector of Worlds''), Munich, 2006 *''Indien. Land des kleinen Glücks'', Cadolzburg, 2006 *''Gebrauchsanweisung für Indien'', Munich, 2006 *''Die fingierte Revolution. Bulgarien, eine exemplarische Geschichte'', Munich, 2006 *''Nomade auf vier Kontinenten'', Frankfurt, 2007 *''Kampfabsage. Kulturen bekämpfen sich nicht – sie fließen zusammen'', Munich, 2007 (with

Ranjit Hoskote Ranjit Hoskote (born 1969) is an Indian poet, art critic, cultural theorist and independent curator. He has been honoured by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, with the Sahitya Akademi Golden Jubilee Award and the Sahitya ...

) *''Der entfesselte Globus'', Munich, 2008 *''Sehnsucht'', Freiburg, 2008 (edited by Fatma Sagir) * ''Kumbh Mela. Das größte Fest der Welt'', München 2008 (photographs by

Thomas Dorn Thomas Dorn (born in 1962 in Neuss, Germany) is a photographer and contemporary artist who spends time in Geneva, Cologne and Paris. He has traveled in Africa and some 20 countries. He is known for his album covers for world music, jazz Jaz ...

) * ''Angriff auf die Freiheit. Sicherheitswahn, Überwachungsstaat und der Abbau bürgerlicher Rechte'', Munich 2009 (with

Juli Zeh Juli Zeh (, Julia Barbara Finck, née Zeh; born 30 June 1974 in Bonn) is a German writer and former judge. Biography Her first book was ''Adler und Engel'' (translated into English as ''Eagles and Angels'' by Christine Slenczka), which won the ...

) * ''EisTau'', Munich, 2011 (novel) * ''Die Versuchungen der Fremde: Unterwegs in Arabien, Indien und Afrika'', Munich, 2011 * ''Confluences: Forgotten Histories From East And West'' (co-authored with

), New Delhi, Yoda Press 2012 * ''Der überflüssige Mensch'' (

'), Salzburg, 2013 * ''Macht und Widerstand'', Frankfurt am Main 2015 * ''Meine Olympiade'', Frankfurt am Main, 2016 * ''Doppelte Spur'', Frankfurt am Main: Fischer, 2020,

English translations

*''Custodians of the Sun'' *''Along the Ganges'', translation by

, Penguin Books India & Haus Publishing, 2005 *''Mumbai to Mecca'', London, 2007, Haus Publishing *''The Collector of Worlds'', London, 2008 *''The Lamentations of Zeno'', translation by Philip Boehm of ''Eis Tau'', Verso Books, New York, 2016

Publishing

*''Afrikanissimo'', Wuppertal, 1991 (with Peter Ripken) *''Das Huhn das schreit gehört dem Fremden'' (''The screaming Chicken belongs to the Stranger''), Munich, 1998 *''Döner in Walhalla'' (''Doner in Valhalla''), Cologne, 2000 *''Die Welt des Ryszard Kapuściński. Seine besten Geschichten und Reportagen'', Frankfurt, 2007 *''Egon Erwin Kisch. Die schönsten Geschichten und Reportagen'', Berlin, 2008

Translations into German

*''Sobornost. Kirche, Bibel, Tradition'' (''Bible, church, tradition'') by Georgij V. Florovskij, München 1989 *''Der Berg am Rande des Himmels'' (''The Mountain on the Edge of the Sky'') by

Timothy Wangusa Timothy Wangusa (born 1942) is a Ugandan poet and novelist. Wangusa was chairman of Uganda Writers Association and founder president of International PEN Uganda Centre. Early life and education Wangusa is an ethnic Mumasaaba, born in Bugisu, in ...

, Munich, 1989 *''Knochen'' (''Bones'') by Chenjerai Hove, Munich, 1990 *''Der Preis der Freiheit'' (''The Price of Freedom'') by

Tsitsi Dangarembga Tsitsi Dangarembga (born 4 February 1959) is a Zimbabwean novelist, playwright and filmmaker. Her debut novel, '' Nervous Conditions'' (1988), which was the first to be published in English by a Black woman from Zimbabwe, was named by the BBC i ...

, Reinbek bei Hamburg, 1991 *''Buckingham Palace'' (''Buckingham Palace, district six'') by

Richard Rive Richard Moore Rive (1 March 1931 – 4 June 1989) was a South African writer and academic, who was from Cape Town. Biography Rive was born on 1 March 1931 in Caledon Street in the working-class Coloured residential area District Six of Cape To ...

, München 1994 *''Die Sklaverei der Gewürze'' by Shafi Adam Shafi, München 1997 *''Der letzte Ausweis'' (''Identity card'') by F. M. Esfandiary, Frankfurt, 2009

Film adaptations

*''

The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner ''The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner'' is a 2008 Bulgarian drama-road film, co-produced with Slovenia, Germany and Hungary. Its original Bulgarian title is ''Светът е голям и спасение дебне отвся� ...

'', 2007, directed by Stefan Komandarev with Miki Manojlovic as Bai Dan and Carlo Ljubek as Alexander

References

External links

Literature by and about Ilija Trojanow
(in German) in the catalogue of the DDB, or

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

Biography, Lettre Ulysses Award jury member
(in English)

on Trojanov's novel of the same name, at signandsight.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trojanow, Ilija 1965 births Living people Bulgarian emigrants to Germany Translators to German Writers from Sofia Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Bulgarian translators People denied entry to the United States German male writers