Stereotypes

As cultural attache at the Bulgarian embassy, one of Popov’s jobs was to monitor the British press. He still reads many British newspapers. So how does he think British people perceive Bulgarians?

"In stereotypes, just like the Bulgarians see the British people," says Popov, this time without his trademark pause. "They make their readers feel better when they write about other people who are worse off than themselves. It’s always good to read or hear of people in a worse condition. It’s a very basic need. And I think that the British are much too concerned with self-identity."

I take this as Popov’s tacit acknowledgement of the tabloids’ tendency to indulge in Bulgar-bashing. Popov recounts an amusing case of fact imitating fiction. "One thing I liked most about Britain was the attitude towards animals.

In the novel, a Bulgarian based in London gets together with some crooks and decides to steal ducks from Richmond Park. Some years later, The Sun newspaper reported that Eastern European immigrants had stolen some swans and ducks from a London park." Admirable prescience indeed!

Popov hopes that the film, when it’s released early next year, will have a wide distribution. "I haven’t yet seen the result but the director (Dimitar Mitovski) is very professional and courageous. It’s very complicated to get all these actors together and have so many locations." (The first part of the movie was filmed in London).

"It will have a funny dynamic, being both in English and Bulgarian," he says. "This is the first Bulgarian movie to secure such a large British cast, so in that respect it’s a unique experience for the Bulgarian cinema industry. The screenplay follows the book fairly closely. The characters were initially based on real people - that’s why Bulgarian publishers were so afraid to take it - but in the course of time all these prototypes evolve into archetypes."

Soon after the novel’s release in 2001, film producers came bidding. The initial rights were bought by French producers but nothing came of it. It took eight or nine years before the movie project finally got underway.

A theatrical version of of Mission London - based on some of the comic highlights in the novel such as the duck-stealing episode - will also be staged in Osnabruck, Germany, in September. Ultimately, Popov thinks that Mission London would lend itself well to a musical. "Many people are involved and there’s kind of choreography in this," he says.  

Seclusion
Popov is courteous and friendly but comes across as a ruminative type. "I like to have time for writing and not meet many people when I’m working. When I’m selling books obviously it’s different, but I don’t really want to promote myself. I’ll only do it if it helps the book. I do like meeting readers and I hearing what they have to say. But when I’m writing, I prefer solitude."    

Popov’s wife, who also collaborates on the screenplay, teaches at the New Bulgarian University. In the winter, however, he’ll leave her and their daughter to go to a Greek island - perhaps Rhodes or Faros - because he dislikes Sofian winters. He stays for two months in a special centre for writers and translators. Keeping time for yourself is vital for all budding writers, he says.

He advises young aspiring authors to read a lot. "Not only novels but also newspapers and magazines - keep yourself well informed," he says. It’s worth noting that, as well as his fiction, Popov has written two books of essays originally published in newspapers and magazines.

Popov isn’t sure he wants to stay in Bulgaria, although he’s cautiously optimistic that the country is improving. He enjoyed  living in London but wouldn’t particularly like to live there again. "The most important thing is to have the time to do what you want. I’m not that fond of huge cities. I was in Malta and really liked it because it seemed to have a specific Britishness about it," he says.  

As a clearly dedicated Anglophile, Popov is asked if he ever has considered writing in English. "I’ve thought about it but it would take more time and in the meantime I could write far more in Bulgarian. Besides, I believe in translation," he says. Mission London has now been translated into 10 languages - including German, Macedonian, Serbian, French and Italian.

"It’s a great art and sometimes helps books to become even better. I don’t believe anything is beyond translation or that a book loses something in translation. In fact, it often gains something."  

Popov returns to the set of Mission London. It seems likely that the film could well cement Popov’s star status, reluctant though he may be to admit it. Meanwhile, I’m following the great man’s advice and planning a two-month stay in the writers’ colony of Rhodes this winter. This kind of self-discipline is essential - after all - for aspiring authors.