Skapto 3 construction begins
Kostova read from her soon-to-be published workPhoto by Marius Nicolescu
New York Times Bestselling author visits AUBG
By Marius Nicolescu
December 5, 2008
Elizabeth Kostova’s debut novel The Historian sold over 1 million copies
American author Elizabeth Kostova read from her debut novel The Historian, as well as from her in-progress work The Swan Thieves at a gathering in the AUBG Red Room on Tuesday, December 2. Kostova also talked about the creative process and ways of selling a novel, and she answered questions from the audience.
Elizabeth Kostova published her debut novel in 2005, and since then the book has been translated into over 30 languages, including Bulgarian. She is married to a Bulgarian.
In the presentation that followed the readings Kostova talked about the challenges of writing a novel and the inspiration that she had when writing The Historian. “When I started this book I wanted to give a sense of the way history constantly imposes itself on us, or brings itself to our attention, the way it surrounds us if we watch for it. It’s important to think about the history that is down our street constantly,” she said.
The novel was published shortly after Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code got to the US bestsellers’ lists. Kostova said that “strangely [she feels] a great deal of gratitude” to the book, as “it opened the market for readers who might not read a particularly challenging novel.” However, she said, she would categorize The Historian in a different genre.
Kostova also teaches creative writing at the University of Michigan. She said she tries to always set a theme for her classes. “Last year I taught a course in using painting and the visual arts in fiction, and all the many ways you can do that. I always try to make my writing courses into literature courses. I believe all writers should read a lot,” Kostova said.
She has established a foundation in Bulgaria, the “Elizabeth Kostova Foundation,” which promotes young Bulgarian writers. Kostova also donated the honorarium she received from AUBG for participating in the university lecture series to the AUBG library, specifically for the purchase of contemporary Bulgarian novels.
