About
Rostislava Pankova-Karadjova, known to her friends as Ronnie, is a bilingual writer and a musician. She wrote her first poem at 13, then poured her thoughts into diaries and her emotions into more poems, published in her poetry book Leave Me The Miracle. After graduating from the Bulgarian Music Academy with degrees in Musicology and Choir Conducting, she moved to Swaziland, Southern Africa and twelve years later — to Auckland, New Zealand. The challenges of adopting two new cultures and a language as vast as the oceans she had crossed and her daily tasks a music teacher, choir conductor and a mother, silenced her pen for nearly twenty years.
Her blog Между два свята (Between two worlds) revived her inspiration, and since 2016 Ronnie has been writing in both Bulgarian and English. She learned about the craft of creative writing through books and online courses, including Writing Fiction Intermediate from the University of East Anglia & Writers Centre Norwich. Navigating the pitfalls of self-doubt and peaks of exuberant joy, lead to her Master of Creative Writing from the University of Auckland, a degree that has hushed many of her inner demons, the biggest being writing in her non-native tongue.
Ronnie’s flash fiction and short stories have been awarded and shortlisted in the UK Writing Magazine, the New Zealand Writing College, Flash500 and other competitions. Her stories have been published in MiNDFOOD and Ponder Review.
Currently, Ronnie is working on her first novel In Focus.
What People Say
The tone you strike, particularly in the prologue and the beginning of chapter one, suggests a writer who is sensitive to language and atmosphere.
Paula Morris
You had me at the opening line. No teling here. I couldn’t stop reading your poetry, your story. Your dream. I can see it all. I’m looking forward to the next chapter in your writing.
Jeff Lennard
You are a writer, Ronnie. Just write, read, and keep the engine humming.
Monique Roffey
Rostislava Pankova-Karadjova 