Recent political protests in Bulgaria, led in part by Gen Z students, workers, and unemployed young people, have sharpened popular demand for a rethinking of both public services and national identity. In the face of continued emigration of young people concerned about the nature of opportunities in Bulgaria, the protesters asked, in part, for a renegotiation of Bulgarian identity. In this context, Kapka Kassabova’s trilogy of biographical family explorations of the experience of the émigré, border lives, and shifting geopolitical landscapes have much to teach us about the interweaving historical geographies of the region. Kassabova’s writing both foreshadows and illuminates Bulgaria’s ongoing struggle about staying, leaving, and renewal.

Border, emigration, émigré experience, Gen Z, geopolitics, protest, regional identity