Storytel, in collaboration with Pottermore Publishing, released the first book in the series in August – narrated by Silvia Petkova.
On 27 August, Storytel released the first-ever Bulgarian-language audiobook of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – to mark the 20th anniversary since the book was first published by Egmont Bulgaria. It is narrated by Silvia Petkova, a well-known actress in the country, who will also read the remaining six titles in the series.
‘I’m a real fan of Harry Potter stories and it’s a great honour and professional recognition for me to be trusted to recreate this magical world in the seven audiobooks in Bulgarian,’ said Silvia. She added that it was a challenge to savour ‘because you have to convey the emotion to the listener without relying on body language. You use only your voice to unlock [people’s] imaginations and to transfer [them] to the magical world of books.’
Petkova’s Bulgarian-language version joins the English-language audiobooks narrated by Stephen Fry already available through Storytel’s service in Bulgaria.
For the launch, Silvia appeared on Bulgarian National TV’s (BNT) morning show 100% Awake – where she spoke about her love of the stories, what it takes to narrate the audiobooks and how she voiced the many characters.
Storytel’s Bulgarian team have also created an ‘audio quest’ where, between each book release, fans will be given a series of audio clips from the most recently released audiobook and quizzed on them. If the players answer correctly they’ll be given an anagram which they’ll have to unscramble to reveal a special Harry-Potter themed code word, which they then can enter to be put into a sweepstake to win some Harry Potter merchandise.
As well as this, Storytel captured some fantastic behind-the-scenes footage of Silvia in the studio so fans could get a preview of her narration before listening to the audiobooks.
The Bulgarian-language audiobooks of the series will be published through the end of 2020 and into 2021, with Deathly Hallows arriving in March – we can’t wait for you to hear the rest!
