A month before the official broadcast of the winners of the Eighth International Literary Youth Competition “Whoever saves a human life, saves an entire universe”, the jury announced the nominated 20 works in the category “Bulgarian authors”. This year the competition of Alef Center is international and is held in two categories – for Bulgarian and foreign authors. 180 young people from 5 countries took part in the contested race. The theme “I will tell you about my savior” excited the young authors, they wrote their fictional stories about the tragic years of World War II, the atrocities of the Holocaust and the self-denial of the people who saved lives.
The works of the authors from Bulgaria were competently evaluated by a jury consisting of: Radostina Nikolova, senior expert at the Ministry of Education and Science, Georgi Bardarov, writer, specialist in ethno-religious conflicts and demographic problems, Rumen Leonidov – poet and publisher of Fakel.bg, Asen Yordanov – journalist, poet and director of the site Bivol.bg, Alberta Alkalay – chairman of CJBC “Alef”.
After a very difficult choice, the commission awarded 20 authors out of a total of 126 participants in the verbal competition. Works by authors from Plovdiv, Ruse, Varna, Gotse Delchev, Burgas, Kyustendil, Yambol, Shumen and other cities in the country have been nominated.
The nominations in the category “Foreign authors” are also expected. 54 young people from Slovakia, Poland, Germany and Israel took part in the competition with their stories. The works are evaluated by a jury consisting of: Pavol Rankov – writer, Slovakia, Nikolai Fenerski, writer and translator from Slovak, Vered Elron – cultural attaché at the Embassy of Israel in Bulgaria, Dorota Fater, director of the Polish school at the Embassy of Poland in Bulgaria.
The authors awarded by the jury from both categories will be invited to a ceremony for awarding the winners in Burgas at the expense of the organizer – Alef Center. The ceremony will take place on June 24, but the nominees’ visit to the seaside town will last two days with a rich program. Representatives of local and state authorities, diplomatic missions, business, the public, teachers and students, supporters of the idea of humanism are expected to attend the official award ceremony.
The competition “He who saves one human life saves an entire universe” is held under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria and with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science, the National Children’s Palace and the Municipality of Burgas. Partners are the Embassy of the State of Israel in Bulgaria, the Slovak Ministry of Education and the Museum of the History of Polish Jews “Polin” in Warsaw, Poland.
