Nikolay Haytov

Born to a poor family of ordinary peasants in the village of Yavrovo [bg], in Kuklen municipality, Plovdiv Province, Haytov finished junior high school in his native village and then moved to Plovdiv, where, instead of studying, he worked as an apprentice in a flour shop, as a waiter in a pub, as a valet and in the railway.

He finished high school in Asenovgrad in 1938, becoming attracted to the work of writers such as Zahari Stoyanov, Ivan Vazov, Elin Pelin and Yordan Yovkov.

Haytov was accepted as a member of the Union of Bulgarian Writers [bg] (UBW) in 1959 and worked as an editor for the newspaper Narodna kultura and the magazine Nasha rodina.

Since published in ten editions in Bulgaria and translated in 28 languages, including Chinese, it is regarded as one of the most successful modern Bulgarian literary works.

He was also the screenplay writer for a number of films and TV series, including The Goat Horn (1972), Manly Times (1977), Captain Petko Voivode, Darvo bez koren, Orisiya, Semeystvo Kalinkovi, Lamyata.