Literature Night 2026
2026.10.01
1 October 2026, 6:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Academia Gallery, 1 Shipka Street, Sofia
The Academia Gallery of the National Academy of Art opens its doors to the world of literature as one of the "reading nests" for the 15th edition of the Night of Literature.
On 1 October 2026, from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm, prominent figures will read excerpts from contemporary European poetry and prose—published after 2000 and translated into Bulgarian—simultaneously across 13 locations in Bulgaria: Sofia, Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo, Gabrovo, Dobrich, Lovech, Pazardzhik, Plovdiv, Ruse, Stara Zagora, and the village of Chavdar.
For the Literature Night 2026, the Academia Gallery (at 1 Shipka Street) will host the Embassy of the Netherlands to present the book *The Secret Annex: The Diary of Anne Frank* (published by Ciela, 2018; cover design by Damyan Damyanov) by the world-renowned author Anne Frank. Readings begin at 6:00 pm, whereas at each "reading nest," the same book is read every half hour: at 6:00, 6:30, 7:00, 7:30, 8:00, 8:30, and 9:00 pm. The reading will be performed by Maria Encheva—an accomplished translator from Dutch and German and the translator of the complete, uncensored Bulgarian edition of Anne Frank’s diary. A graduate in German Studies from Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski," she is the Bulgarian voice of authors such as Herman Koch, Arnon Grunberg, Guus Kuijer, and Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, and recipient of the Bulgarian Translators' Union award.
Academia Gallery is a landmark cultural space in the capital, which presents a rich programme of exhibitions by established and emerging artists from the Bulgarian and international scene, and hosts various forums, publication presentations, film screenings, academic conferences, and more. Its participation as a "reading hub" in the European Literature Night highlights its role as a dynamic venue for dialogue between different art forms.
The European Literature Night 2026 is part of the 2026 cultural events calendar of Sofia City Municipality. .