Miroslav Penkov was born and raised in Bulgaria. He moved to America in 2001 and eventually completed an MFA in creative writing at the University of Arkansas. He is the author of the story collection East of the West (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011), and the novel Stork Mountain (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016) which have been published in over twenty countries. His stories have won the BBC International Short Story Award 2012 and have appeared in The Best American Short Stories, The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, and The Best American Nonrequired Reading. In 2014-15, he was mentored by Michael Ondaatje as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. His story "A Picture With Yuki" was made into a feature film, for which he co-wrote the screenplay. A Bulgarian-Japanese co-production, funded also by the European Union’s MEDIA program, the film premiered at the Sofia International Film Festival in March 2019 where it received the Audience Award for films from the International and the Balkan competitions. He is an Associate Professor at the University of North Texas.

Website: http://www.miroslavpenkov.com

Publications

• Stork Mountain: A Novel , Farrar, Straus and Giroux (March 15, 2016)
• East of the West: A Country in Stories , Farrar, Straus and Giroux (June 4, 2011)

Awards

• Rolex Mentor and Protege Arts Initiative 2014-15 (Mentor: Michael Ondaatje)(2012)
• BBC International Short Story Award 2012(2012)
• Eudora Welty Prize 2007(2008)

Employment

• Professor at University of North Texas (September 2009 - )

Degrees

• Master of Fine Arts in Fiction from Univeristy of Arkansas (May 2009)

Genres of Interest

Fiction