Writing Across Worlds

Ivan Dikov is a Bulgarian English-language novelist, journalist, and editor whose interests range from the politics and history of the real world to the imaginary civilizations, empires, and conflicts of fantasy fiction.

Born and raised in rural northern Bulgaria, in a country still emerging from the shadows of Communism and an even longer Ottoman past, he developed an early fascination with history, political power, the rise and fall of civilizations, and the peculiar ways in which human beings organize their societies — and occasionally make a spectacular mess of them.

Eventually, he discovered two ways to explore these interests: writing about the world as it actually exists or inventing entirely new worlds in which people could repeat many of the same mistakes, preferably on a much grander scale.

He decided to do both.

In the real world, Dikov has spent nearly two decades working as a journalist, editor, and political analyst, covering international affairs, European politics, history, and archaeology. His career has included senior editorial positions, contributions to international media, and the founding of independent English-language publications.

In the imaginary world, he is the creator of The Mudbrick Swamp, a fantasy novel set in Rodiniya, a vast fictional universe of rival empires, ancient mysteries, extraordinary creatures, and individuals whose ambitions frequently collide with the realities of their surroundings.

Whether writing about actual events or imaginary civilizations, Dikov is driven by the same fascination: how societies emerge, how power operates, why civilizations struggle, and what happens when human ambition runs into the unpredictable forces of history.

The principal difference is that, in fiction, he gets to invent the disasters himself.