The Rashko Sugarev Prize was awarded in a series of ceremonies, observing COVID-19 measures
Text: Magdalena Gigova
Yordan D. Radichkov is the 25th winner of the national short story prize in the name of Rashko Sugarev. He received the award for his work, ‘A Dog’s Life’, from jury member Deyan Enev and from Slava Ivanova, Executive Director of NEF ‘13 Centuries of Bulgaria’. Unlike other years, when the ceremony was held at the Sredets Gallery and was attended by the young writers’ near and dear, and friends of literature, this time the Fund was the host at its own Prof. Vasil Gerov Hall.
The pandemic, which has readjusted our lives to a new pace, has deprived the three winners of the opportunity to hear live the applause for their success. However, camera operator Tsvetan Ignatovski filmed their ‘separate’ awarding on video, which you can watch below.
On the World Day of the Book, Copyright and Readers, Yordan Radichkov’s grandson proved the maxim that talent is passed down every other generation, but also that he should not be compared to his famous grandfather. In addition to a diploma and the financial expression of the award of BGN 700, he also received publications by the NEF ‘13 Centuries of Bulgaria’. Yordan D. Radichkov graduated in Bulgarian Philology from St Kliment Ohridski Sofia University. He has published three collections of short stories: ‘Little Human Melody’, ‘Game of the Goose’, and ‘Two Hundred Ambulances an Hour’.
The jury, consisting of Dimitar Korudzhiev (Chair), Georgi Velichkov, Deyan Enev and Theodora Dimova, chose Ralitsa Raykova and her story ‘The Salt of the Earth’ as the winner of the second prize. The young lady is studying Computer Science and Communications in Nancy, France, and, for her tender age of 22, she has already won the grand prize of the 2017 Petya Dubarova National Literary Competition and the third prize of the 2018 Rashko Sugarev National Literary Competition for a Published Short Story. Dimitar Korudzhiev sent his special congratulations through Deyan Enev.
No less exciting was the presentation of the third prize. Eleonora Boycheva had arrived from Lom to receive her prize in person, along with her husband and their two children, one still a baby. The jury had selected her story, ‘The Bench’. She is a psychologist and her first book, ‘Striptease’, won the 2016 grand prize in the Yana Yazova National Literary Competition.
The Rashko Sugarev National Short Story Competition has been held since 1997. It is open to authors up to 35 years old, whose story was published in a book or a periodical during the past calendar year.
From its beginning until now, the literary competition has given a start to over 75 now-famous writers, including Alek Popov, Georgi Gospodinov, Yordan Eftimov, Angel Igov, Boris Minkov, Olya Stoyanova, Silvia Tomova, Andon Staykov, Alexander Shpatov, Anton Terziev, Vladimir Poleganov, Yanitsa Radeva, and Rosen Karamfilov.
You can watch the awarding of the three winners of the Rashko Sugarev National Prize, and the speeches of Slava Ivanova and Deyan Enev, in the short film by Tsvetan Ignatovski.