Georgi Gospodinov was born in Yambol, Bulgaria, in 1968. His works have been translated into 35 languages and shortlisted for more than a dozen international prizes. He won the 2016 Jan Michalski Prize for Literature, the 2019 Angelus Literature Central Europe Prize and the 2021 Premio Strega Europe. His short stories have been translated into multiple languages, won the Zinklar Prize for Best Short Fiction, been nominated for the Angelus award for Central European Literature and longlisted for the Frank O'Connor Award. The story 'Blind Vashya' was adapted into an Oscar-nominated 2016 animated short film directed by Theodore Ushev. Gospodinov's novel Time Shelter, won the 2023 International Booker Prize.