Atanas P. Slavov (1947-2022)

Atanas P. Slavov

By Valentin D. Ivanov: Bulgarian fandom has lost one of its leading figures: on May 6, 2022 the prominent Bulgarian SF writer, artist, translator, fan, and thinker Atanas P. Slavov passed away after a long illness.

He was born in the town of Burgas and in late 1960s organized the first genre clubs and organization in then-communist Bulgaria. He left us with one novel, The Psychoprogrammed [Man], scores of stories and essays. Most importantly, we will remember him for his influence on countless fans whose lives he touched, spreading the ideas about the constant search for paths to a better, brighter and cleaner future in every thinkable aspect – from moral to ecological and technological.

His stories have been published in Bulgarian, English, German, Russian and Ukrainian.

A gallery of his impressive artwork is here.

He was founder and Editor-in-Chief of the English-language magazine Orphia, which only lasted one issue.

Three times he won the European Science Fiction Society’s ESFS Award, in 2003 for his fanzine Fenternet, in 2004 he was honored in the Best Promoter (of European SF) category, and his almanac Fantastika won Best Magazine in 2015.

Probably, the closest counterparts of Atanas P. Slavov from the Western SF milieu are Kim Stanley Robinson, with his optimism and his positive look at the future, and Stanislaw Lem, with his thoughtful and analytic approach to the world.

Artwork by Atanas P. Slavov