She possesses deep knowledge not just in the sphere of the humanities, in which she specialized, but she is also enticed by science, she knows a lot, and all of this is reflected in Notes of the Phantom Woman"[1] Iana Boukova is the author of the short story collections A as in Аnything (2006) and Tales With No Return (2016), and the novel Traveling in the Direction of the Shadow.

Intellectually, stylistically, and conceptually, Boukova is in conversation with a global community of authors, brought together by translation and including, in particular, Jorge Luis Borges as well as Marguerite Yourcenar, Milorad Pavić, Gabriel García Márquez, Italo Calvino, or Georges Perec, among others.

According to the PEN America Pen/Heim Translation fund grants Jury Iana Boukova’s novel Traveling in the Direction of the Shadow is one of the most original and compelling books to emerge out of Bulgaria’s contemporary literary scene: the plot, unfolding during the 19th century in and around the Balkans, offers complex insights and historical perspectives on cultures that are little known beyond their borders, and the main characters, whose names serve as titles of the novel’s eight chapters, each have their own intriguing cradle-to-grave biographies.

The Greek poet, artist, and translator Katerina Iliopoulou defines that: The Phantom-woman orchestrating the book is the invisibly present witness-poet, the one who has been turned into a ghost across the entire spectrum of the totalitarianism of merchandise, disguised as a cartoon-like superhero, showcasing the incredible transforming powers of poetry.

[3] The Athens daily morning newspaper Kathimerini underlines the significance of Iana Boukova's poetry: A pointed intellect is in charge: a restless, ironic intelligence is given utterance in a style that’s meant to smart, to cause abrasions, unburdened by the delusion of prophetic speech and the concomitant assurance of high discourse.

[4] The Greek poet, and critic Orfeas Apergis emphasizes in the newspaper Ta Nea that: This book brings in contact the essay form (the philosophic, metaphysical “tendency”) and poetry (poetic excess), like two ever-moving, rotating grindstones that hone one another.