Rossen Karamfilov, who won the Second Prize for his ‘Childhood’ in the 2026 Rashko Sugarev National Competition for a Published Short Story, answered questions specifically for Untold Stories:
- What do you think about the Rashko Sugarev National Competition of NEF ‘13 Centuries of Bulgaria’?
For me, this competition is a ritual. I participate in it only when I feel an impulse in my heart. I have received three awards over time, and they were always for those stories that played a role of cores in my oeuvre. I thank the jury for believing in my words. It is so good to know that one is being appraised by such figures in our literature, people who do not look at the name of the author, but the text.
- Is writing a short story easy?
Nothing is easy to write. Let alone a short story. This is a kind of magic that few people have mastered. As you know, writing is the hardest thing for a good writer. For a graphomaniac, though, everything comes easily—he has no eyes to see his failure.
- What inspired you to write your story?
My story was inspired by my own childhood, which was extraordinary. It was also written from a child’s perspective, something that makes it valuable. I did not look on my childhood as a storyteller; I became the child I was for a while. That child told his own story through me.
- Do you think short stories have a future?
The short story itself is a past. You usually recount something you have experienced. I never make it up. I don’t think it’s honest to make it up—especially when your fate has given you more than enough, and especially when you have a past that is a boon to describe. It depends on us writers whether this past has a future.
- What will your next story be about?
I don’t usually give away my secrets. Let alone those I haven’t written down yet.
- What inspires you the most?
The thing that doesn’t leave me indifferent. My work has always been a provocation to the reader. I value my readers. I have never lied to them. Regardless of the price. I’ll pay for everything.
- What do you dream of?
Peace. As one of my favourite writers, Henry Miller, says: the only real miracle in this world is peace. I agree with him.
Rossen Karamfilov’s short story, ‘Childhood’, was included in his book ‘Entrances and Exits’, published by Avangard Prima, 2024.
Karamfilov is a writer, poet and journalist. He won awards in the Rashko Sugarev Competition in 2014 and 2019. He is the author of more than ten books.
He has been honoured with literary prizes, including ‘Lyubomir Tonev’ (2014), ‘Vladimir Bashev’ (2017), ‘The Soul of a Spring’ (2018), and ‘Sofia’ (2018). He is the youngest poet in the anthology titled ‘The Season of Delicate Hunger’ (USA, 2013).
Rossen Karamfilov represented Bulgaria at the European First Novel Festival in Budapest in 2015, with his novel ‘Knees’. His writings have been published in English, Italian, Hungarian, and Turkish.
Questions posed by Theodora Bankovska
27 April 2026
Translated by Nigrita Davies