About Lina Petrunova

I believe the distance between the trivial and sublime is merely a matter of attention. My name is Tsvetelina Petrunova, and I write to capture those fleeting moments where ordinary life reveals its hidden poetry. On this page, you’ll find the story behind the observer—the person who pauses to listen and finds meaning in the spaces between moments.

Synthesizing my life and what has turned me into who I am now in a few paragraphs turns out to be more arduous than I imagined. I keep catching my drifting thoughts in various moments long gone and have to forcefully bring them back to what I’m trying to summarize here — who I am and why I am walking this earth.

I was born in a town near the capital of Bulgaria, where I graduated from a language high school with English as my first language. Lurking behind these facts, not unlike the underwater part of an iceberg, are countless details determining my worldview: the aesthetics of a heavily industrial town in Eastern post-socialist Europe, a family of book lovers (including grandparents), and a large library at home. Add to this a peculiar circle of friends, literature and language teachers who left their impression on a forming mind, and all that soaked into the broth of my childish awe at the world.

My academic journey took place at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. I studied Journalism and English Philology, completing a Master’s degree in British and American Literature in 2008 with a thesis on four plays by Harold Pinter. Beyond these formal details lie the secret passages of the British Council library, inspiring people in the lecture halls of “the dovecote” (as we lovingly called the top floor), and my first encounters with romanticists, existentialists, and postmodernists. The creative energy in those otherwise ascetic premises was palpable.

I read very slowly—some books take months to finish, regardless of their length. There are only two or three books I’ve read in one sitting, and they weren’t necessarily the best ones.

My professional life has always revolved around teaching English. More valuable than my qualifications is the incredible number of human lives I’ve come into contact with because of teaching—the variety of viewpoints all my students have bestowed on me, their stories, words, intonations. It was during this period I discovered that in order to write, one needs to be a bit skew-eyed.

Writing has accompanied every stage of my life—childhood imaginations, romantic emotions, musical influences, roads travelled, musings, stray cats, hobbies, losses, and encounters. Much of my life is chaotically but lovingly scattered across notebooks, computer files, and separate pieces of paper tucked here and there, just in case.

All these collected fragments eventually coalesced into what would become ‘Tales of Trivial and Sublime.’ My writing has always explored the belief that profound meaning often hides in plain sight, waiting for someone to notice.

I dream of hugging chickens, petting foxes, and befriending birds. One of the world’s most beautiful sounds, to me, is ducks talking to each other.

I make up dialogues involving every object around me, imagining what everything would say if it could speak and what its voice would sound like.

Strangely, I find peace in ironing clothes and polishing shoes—these simple acts bring calm into my life. Similarly, I started doing yoga in April 2020 and haven’t missed many days since. These rituals ground me in the physical world even as my mind often wanders elsewhere.

I’m endlessly curious about how things work, which has led me to take courses in Physics, Mechanics, Astrophysics, and basic programming.

I sometimes dream of waking up to a world where nobler forces have replaced greed overnight. I believe that there’s something good in absolutely everyone, and approaching people with kindness can bring it out—sometimes it just requires more patience.

For reasons unknown, strangers often approach me in crowds to ask questions or share something. Perhaps I look like someone who can answer a question or just listen. These chance encounters have enriched my life in unexpected ways.

I’ve loved Boris Vian all my life—both as a writer and as a person.
I watch too many cat videos online.
And yes, I’m terrible at placing commas correctly.

‘Tales of Trivial and Sublime’ emerged from this same impulse to document life’s overlooked moments. The blog serves as a collection of observations, thoughts and poems, which decided to emerge on the scattered pages of my life. Through these writings, I hope to create a shared experience of wonder and recognition with readers who also sense the profound currents running beneath everyday life.

As ‘Tales of Trivial and Sublime’ continues to evolve, I invite you to join me in this practice of attentive observation and ongoing exploration of life’s ordinary moments.