replies so far

Here's everybody's initial responses as they came in:

Linda

Oh dear – how difficult this is...

My favourites (which means not very) are

A Balkan Exchange
Homespun Alchemy

With Poetry from Bulgaria & Britain as the subheading?

I do think Neareast needs to go because Nadya and Georgi are so agin it.

If I have any other ideas I’ll be in touch.

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Mark

How about Near East North East with the subtitle a Balkan Exchange?

Not keen on any of the new titles, to be honest. And happy to go with either original or current one.

How about Monuments or some variant, given Sofia and Newcastle both have them. Twin Monuments? Exchanging Monuments? Hmm, not convinced. Would still need a subtitle.

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Andy

My preferences are :

1 Neareast
2 A Balkan Exchange
3 Bulgar Blues

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VBV

Sorry, I have a pragmatic question. What is the idea of the title?I mean - why the publisher decided to change it?- Is it because "A Balkan Exchange: Near East - North East" will sell better?- Or is it because it represents the contents of the book in a better way?- Or it sounds better? I am asking this, because for me it is not clear in what direction I have to think about.

"my last skin, literature" is quite different from "A BalkanExchange". If we have to think about the title that represents the 8 of us -it is one thing. If we are going to stress on the "bulgarity" - it is a different approach. Or maybe we have to think about the common bridges...Which of these is better.

Before answering my questions, I will try to help by thinking out loud

1. Neareast -- it sounds OK. For some British we are Neareast. But for many Bulgarians you are Farwest :)

2. gigantic memories -- I like it, but is it representative?

3. British Bulgarity -- Just a thought, came out from nowhere

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Nadya

What about VBV's title or subtitle "Sofia-upon-Tyne"? Or something like "Bridge page" or "Bridges and pages: Sofia-upon-Tyne"...
"Neareast" still sounds problematic for me...

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Kristin

Hello dear everybody!

I rather like the geographic ideas like Near East North East: A Balkan Exchange. However we seem to have a problem with Near East. I personally don't have any but if the anthology is going to have a Bulgarian title as well, there will be a problem. What we call in Bulgaria Near East is the territory that is referred to in England as the Middle East.

How about GB/BG: A Balkan Exchange?

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Georgi

Dear all,

I am a bit late in the discussion because I broke my ankle in a writers' football game in Finland and I am slow in getting to the computer:)

I like "Stamps from Bulgaria".
"Balkan exchange" sounds like EU projects slang.
"Neareast" suggests another geography - Israel,Lebanon, etc. (at least for us).

titular debate

Dear All,

Bearing in mind that a few people have expressed discomfort with the title, I've been through the book looking for phrases that might work, and have picked out the following:

homespun alchemy
a hard forgetting
you speak our tongue?
bulgar blues
my last skin, literature
stamps of bulgaria
gigantic memories

These are just to get some debate going, so if you can suggest something else, please do. Or if you think the present title should stand, please say. I also wondered about 'Language is Ecstasy'?

For the record, the original title was

neareast: Bulgarian and British Poets

The current one is

A Balkan Exchange: Near East - North East

All best,

Bill