XI INTERNATIONAL LITERARY STUDENT COMPETITION “WHOEVER SAVES ONE HUMAN LIFE SAVES THE WHOLE UNIVERSE”
2023-2024
ORGANIZER: Center for Jewish-Bulgarian Cooperation “Alef”
TOPIC: “WHOEVER SAVES ONE HUMAN LIFE SAVES THE WHOLE UNIVERSE”
GENRE: Fiction, Video narrative
GENERAL CONDITIONS:
Center for Jewish-Bulgarian Cooperation “Alef” organizes the International Literary student competition “Whoever saves one human life saves the whole Universe” to recall the lessons of our history, to pay tribute to the victims of the Holocaust, to educate young people to strive for humanity, tolerance, combating anti-Semitism, xenophobia, racism and hate speech.
GOALS:
- Building a civil position in the spirit of humanism and tolerance among young people;
- Prevention of hate speech, xenophobia and racism;
- Encouraging students’ interest in understanding of the Holocaust and memory and resurrection for the saviors of the jews in the dark times of World War II;
- Creating skills for studying and presenting historical events and facts through the concepts of literature;
- Discovering and stimulating the literary talent of students;
- Gaining experience of participation in public initiatives;
GENRE #1 ELIGIBILITY: Fiction based on a historical event or person for students from VIII to XII grade in Europe and Israel.
GENRE #2 ELIGIBILITY: Video narrative based on a historical event or person for students from VIII to XII grade in Europe and Israel.
REQUIREMENTS:
The contestants must present a fiction story, written specifically for this competition, in the native language of the contestant, unpublished and not taken part in another competition.
The contestant who prepared a video narrative must send it in bulgarian language or in their native language, but with english subtitles.
Each participant presents only one work.
Directions: The young authors should go back in the time of the Holocaust and create a literate work in which they bring their attention to the hard and unfair situation of the jewish people, the difficulties and the worries while waiting for the deportation to the Nazi death camps, as well as the resistance and the help of decent people, which led to their rescue. With the means of the fiction literature or the cinematic tools through a video narrative, filmed with a mobile phone or camera, the students must present throughout a specific story, the tumultuous times of World War II, the fear of the persecuted Jews and the courage of the decent saviors.
Stories, based on specific historical events, will be considered with priority. The jury will appreciate highly the research spirit of the authors – searching for witnesses or their heirs, as well as the creative recreation of their memories. The creative approach to the topic will be considered with priority.
The video stories are recommended to contain any of the following elements: individual memories, an interview on the topic, documenting a personal story, a video narrative of places where dramatic events took place during the Holocaust, flash mobs, artistic recreations, staged recreations of the topic etc.
VOLUME:
Literary short story: Maximum 4 computer pages, Times New Roman font, 12 points.
Video story: It could be shot by a phone or amateur camera and it must be up to 5 minutes long.
Participants must also add their three names, full address for correspondence, phone number, e-mail address, as well as a short presentation of themselves.
DEADLINE:
The competition materials: literary short stories or video links must be sent to the following email address: center.alef@gmail.com
Start: 1st of October 2023
Deadline for sending the work: 30th of April 2024
EVALUATION:
The creative works will be judged by an international jury. The jury will nominate 30 best participants from Bulgaria and abroad.
NOMINATED:
All nominees will be invited to the award ceremony in June 2024 in Burgas, Bulgaria at the expenses of the organizers.
The nominated short stories, as well as the video stories, will be published on Alef’s website.
The nominated authors declare consent for the publication of their creative works or parts of them in Bulgarian media and in literary collections of Center “Alef”.
AWARDS:
The jury will announce the winners in three categories:
- for a literary short story – Bulgarian participants category
- for a literary short story- International participants category
- for a video short story – both Bulgarian and International category together
- Participation in the 3-day International Literary Youth Festival “Friendship – meaning and salvation” in Burgas, Bulgaria, in June 2024 at the expenses of the organizers. Participation in creative writing workshops with prominent writers and historians, screenings of documentaries dedicated to the Holocaust and the unique salvation of Bulgarian Jews, book presentations, exhibitions, literary readings and more.
- Participation in the solemn award ceremony of the competition “Whoever saves one human life, saves the whole universe” in June 2024 in Burgas at the expenses of the organizers.
- The award-winning short stories will be published in 2024 in a separate literary collection, published by the Center “Alef”, as well as on the website alef-bg.org
- Cash prizes and certificates for the best performing participants.
RESULTS ANNOUNCEMENT:
- The nominated creative works will be announced on Alef’s website alef-bg.org by 1st of April 2024
- The results for the final ranking will be announced at the solemn award ceremony in Burgas in June 2024
*The prize fund is determined for each edition of the contest by the organizers.
