Escape from Crimea by Svet Dinahum

Escape from Crimea by Svet Dinahum is a collection of short stories, two of them inspired by real events, one from Ukraine and one from Serbia. Those were my favourite stories. The reason I bought this book is that the author is targeted in Bulgaria because of his pro-Ukraine stance, or, better said, anti-russia stance.

The author’s message to the US:

For writing the truth about the Russian occupation of Crimea, I’ve been persecuted and harassed in Bulgaria by organizations that are defending the interests of Putin’s regime in the Kremlin. I’ve been targeted by a campaign aimed at discrediting me. I’ve also been threatened — indirectly — with so-called ‘friendly advice’ – a Bulgarian Union of Writers member told me personally after the book “You be careful. You are making a provocation. They are organizing things so you’ll be defeated.” Then, referring to the nerve agent used against a former Russian military intelligence officer who defected to Britain, that same “friend” warned “You might eat Novichok just like Sergei Skripal.”

This is a collection of short stories, so some are more interesting than others. This is the only reason I gave the book 4.5 stars instead of 5. I think it is a book worth getting and reading.

He was expelled from The Bulgarian Union of Writers, The newspaper The Word Today, and The Bulgarian PEN Center. After he co-authored an academic article with the title: Why russian Disinformation Matters, published by Carnegie Mellon University, he was fired from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. By reading and engaging with his book we give him a voice.

Escape from Crimea by Svet Dinahum

Details about the picture: –
My rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Would I recommend it: yes
Published by: Cervena Barva Press
Year it was published: 2020
Format: Paperback
Genre(s): Fiction – Contemporary
Pages: 142

About the author: Svet DiNahum was born in 1970 in Sofia, Bulgaria. His book Escape from Crimea is published in Bulgaria (2019), Ukraine (2020), and in the USA (2020) by Cervena Barva Press. Holds Ph. D. in Philosophy of Law/Theory of Justice. He has published short stories in numerous literary magazines in Bulgaria and throughout Europe; his work has been translated into English, German, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Romanian, Chinese, Serbian, Turkish, Spanish, and French. His fiction has appeared in US literary magazines such as Drunken Boat, Gloom Cupboard, Danse Macabre, and Audience, and in HCE Magazine in UK.
He is attacked in Bulgaria for his book Escape from Crimea, threatened, expelled from the editorial board of The Word Today Newspaper, condemned by the pro-Kremlin Bulgarian Union of Writers and a lot of pro-Russian members of Bulgarian PEN Center, including the Honorary Chairman of PEN.
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