Svetlana Komogorova - Komata was born on February 16, 1968 in Velingrad. He graduated from the English high school in Plovdiv and Russian philology from the SU. She has translated a huge amount of fiction and non-fiction literature and films.
Main translator of "Sofia Film Fest". He writes poems, he is also the author-performer of songs. One of the cult figures in the Bulgarian fandom. Among her friends (and elsewhere) she is known by the nickname "K'omata" - a variant of her last name of unknown origin:-).
Loves rabbits, sings (excellent) and plays guitar (terrible), participates in song contests and festivals. He probably would have made quite a bit of them if he kept his head down and accepted dirty games and backroom deals. I accept them not only at song festivals, but also in life, politics, public events, and in general everything around us. Otherwise, it would probably be a mastitis culturtrager… (The very thought of which throws her into a frenzy of terror)
She is also involved in directing, participating in homemade films, and only she knows how many other things.
She has a strong allergy to everything conventional, the banal infuriates her, and with common sense she wants to be in markedly bad relations.
Published collections of poems: 1999 - "The very best", 2003 - "Rabbit Shadow"
What profession did you dream of as a child
I have not dreamed of a specific profession. When they asked me what I would become, I recited the recitation "Student, student, bride", which does not mean that I dreamed of becoming a non-working wife. However, I was constantly playing theater with the dolls, inventing various costumes from everything I found in the wardrobe and singing in front of the mirror with a carafe cork instead of a microphone. And I read a lot, especially funny books. The ideas of doing translation started coming to me somewhere in the eighth grade of English high school, when I noticed that I was very interested in doing it.
What are your professional ambitions today
I have no ambitions. I consider them a very harmful thing. If taking good care of my job, not letting my guard down and spoiling the readers can be considered an ambition, well, that is my ambition. Also, persuading a publisher to publish the entire Callahan Spider-Robinson cycle and translate it afterwards, I guess that could also count as an ambition. I prefer to call it a goal.
Are you lost in translation or are you in it
This title “Lost in Translation” is the result of a very poor translation, probably in an effort to originalize. The film in question is simply called Lost in Translation. There are inevitably losses in translation, but sometimes there are also unexpected gains - the translated text becomes more beautiful than the original, as, for example, happened with Valery Petrov's translation of Rudyard Kipling's fairy tales. I am one of those translators with a distinctive style, so it will be difficult for me to get lost in the translation. But what I enjoy most is translating texts that resonate with my own ideas about life, the universe, and everything else. In other words, I sometimes find myself in the text, I don't know about the translation:-).
What are books for modern man
Whatever. They serve to gain knowledge, for aesthetic enjoyment, to fill your time, for retro decoration, as a substitute for a brick four to drop on heads from the balcony.
What do you prefer to read and what to translate
Thank God, I mostly translate what I like to read - fiction, humor, children's classics. I am fortunate to have translated some of my favorite authors to read - Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Tom Robbins, Spider Robinson, Roger Zelazny, Robert Shackley, Robert Heinlein, Lewis Carroll, AA Milne, Jack Kerouac, Neil Stevenson.
Most challenging author / text to translate
I hate "flat" texts - I like to have puns, overlapping assignments, unusual diction, switching and mixing styles. For example, I have often been told that it must be very difficult to translate Terry Pratchett. Well, it's not difficult. It's hard for me to translate Jackie Collins - "flat" text, simple sentences written like morons, no linguistic and stylistic challenges and thunderous nonsense as content.
Have you had any difficult moments stemming from being a woman or on the contrary, does it help you professionally
I have had difficulties, but they stemmed not exactly from the fact that I am a woman, but from the fact that I am a little crazy. This freaks out certain people, especially those with an administrative mindset. And when the crazy person is a woman, they startle even more, because this is less common. They can't put me in a certain column so they know who they're dealing with, and it stresses them out. Being a woman hasn't helped me professionally either - I despise using the typically female means of advancement.
Is it heroic to be a woman nowadays
No, why? I don't understand how being of a certain gender can be considered heroism. Well, for example, if you are raising five children, then you really literally deserve the title of mother hero.
What do you dream about
To have more free time for my friends, to travel and to do all the things I do non-professionally - finally to edit my films, record my album, arrange my third collection of poems, paint and wander a little.
What message would you send to Bulgarian women
More self-confidence, more courage and above all more independent thinking! I've noticed that many women are used to living and acting in a certain way, just because that's how they've been taught, that's how it's been instilled in them, and they don't even think that there might be something else. And in order to see the other, it does not require any kind of mental effort, just a slight change of perspective. And this other one might turn out to be the best for you. The choice is very large, just pay attention to it!
Favorite color
Son. My favorite shades are turquoise and navy.
Song
Music is my obsession. I don't have a particular favorite song, rather there are an awful lot. Right now I go to bed and wake up with a song by a Polish gypsy band, "Dikanda", but I don't know its title.
Taste
S alty. I love to eat so much, down with the diets!
I also like to drink a lot, and I don't drink anything, I drink everything!
Location
Wild beaches by the sea.
Favorite cooking recipe? Something you enjoy cooking for your family and friends
I love to cook, but I do it very rarely, only when inspiration strikes me. My pies are famous among my friends. I like to experiment, mix some seemingly incompatible ingredients and spices, and I can't cook the same meal twice. I always bring them tied up like that - otherwise, not counting the pie, I can't cook a traditional manja, not even the simplest bean soup! And one more thing - I hate potato stew. I just hate potato stew. The most boring manja in the world!
The photo is from the Grushin Festival of Author's Song in Russia.
