On 10 November 2023, the ‘13 Centuries of Bulgaria’ National Endowment Fund presented in the Prof. Vasil Gerov Hall, and for the 26th time, the prizes in the national short story competition named after Rashko Sugarev, Jury members Theodora Dimova, Hristo Blazhev and Yordan Eftimov had selected the winning entries on 1 November.
First prize went to Dimana Simeonova for her short story, ‘Dress with Buckles’; second to Kristin Dimitrova for ‘Ten Cats’; and third to Slaveya Semova for ‘What the Wind Says’.
The Rashko Sugarev Competition is a way to encourage young people to compose and create quality literature in the short-story genre. Many of the awardees over the years have already established their place in Bulgarian belles-lettres.
Rashko Sugarev
Born on 1 April 1941 in Plovdiv, Rashko Sugarev graduated in Medicine in 1967, and later (1968–72) headed the district psychiatric clinic in Smolyan. In 1977, he settled in Sofia.
He was a translator and the author of the stories ‘The Sergeant Major and the Sun’ (1973) and ‘Ballad of Princes’ (1982). He also published several novels, including ‘Renunciation of Inheritance’ (1984) and ‘Transfigurations of Our Lord’ (1988).
He died in Sofia on 16 March 1995.