Category Archives: Chicago events

TWO-TIME FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR and current executive director of the Bulgarian-American Fulbright Commission in Sofia, Bulgaria, Angela Rodel is visiting Chicago. “As a literary translator who was able to learn Bulgarian thanks to a Fulbright student grant way back in 1996, I will presenting my latest translation ‘The Case of Cem’ by Vera Mutafchieva,” Rodel says. She is inviting the Fulbright community to this literary event where Rodel will be discussing the book with the editorial director of Words Without Borders, Susan Harris.

WHAT The Case of Cem book discussion

WHO Angela Rodel and Susan Harris

WHEN Feb. 7, 2024. 6:00-7:00 PM

WHERE Seminary Co-op, 5751 S Woodlawn Ave., Chicago, IL60615

RSVP (suggested but not required) HERE

About the book: It’s 1481, and as seen from the centers of power in Rome and Venice, the cultures of Europe are under threat from the expansion of the Ottoman Empire. When the exalted Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror dies, his eldest son, Bayezid, takes the throne. However, discontented factions within the Ottoman army urge Mehmed’s second son, Cem, a well-educated and experienced warrior, to oppose his brother’s ascension, igniting a ruthless power struggle and forcing Cem into long years of exile, a pawn for European rulers who are desperate to preserve the order they have imposed on the continent over the course of centuries.

The Case of Cem, Vera Mutafchieva’s celebrated novel of court intrigue, maintains lasting resonance for being a personal exploration of emigration and loss set in the historical era during which the politics of the East and West were sketched out with utter clarity. These early lines of demarcation, as voiced through Christian and Muslim emissaries, greedy leaders, unflinching soldiers, and lyrical poets, have indelibly influenced the world as we know it today.

About the author: Rodel, originally from Minnesota, is a literary translator who holds degrees from Yale and UCLA in linguistics and ethnomusicology. Eight Bulgarian novels in her translation have been published in the US and UK. She has received NEA and PEN translation grants, including an NEA grant for her translation of The Case of Cem. Her translation of Georgi Gospodinov’s Physics of Sorrow won the 2016 AATSEEL Prize for Literary Translation, and her translation of his novel Time Shelter won the 2023 International Booker Prize.