Results from the Competition for Best Unpublished Literary Work 2024
At the first competition for best unpublished literary work, announced by the Department of Creative Writing at the American University College Skopje in cooperation with the publishing house Ars Lamina, 23 manuscripts were submitted (10 short stories, 11 poetic works, one essay and one play). Thirteen manuscripts are written in Macedonian, four in Albanian, and six in English.
Manuscripts were evaluated by a committee composed of the poets Nikola Madzirov and Arlind Farizi, professors and writers Ivana Trajanoska and Ivan Dodovski (heads of the Creative Writing Master Program at the University American College Skopje) and Bisera Bendevska, editor and representative from the publishing house Ars Lamina.
Bearing in mind the aim of the competition to encourage writing practices that stand out with linguistic and stylistic originality and with thematic relevance, the jury committee unanimously decided to award five prizes, namely:
– two third prizes: to Adelina Xhaferi for the poem Ne s’i ngjajmë të djeshmes and to Martina Veselinovska for the dramatic text Footprints Immortalized in the Sand;
– two-second prizes: to Gordana Karakashevska for the poetry selection “Brshlen”, and to Brit Lilit for the poem A Week and A Day of Melted Chocolate Sensation;
– first prize to Jovana Matevska-Atanasova for the short story Patuvanjeto na Berta.
Jovana Matevska-Atanasova is the winner of the main prize – a scholarship provided by Triglav Penzisko Drushtvo AD for 2750 euros for full tuition for enrollment in the Master’s Program in Creative Writing at the School of Foreign Languages at the American University College Skopje.
In addition to the award-winning works, the jury commission recommends for publication in a special edition of the University American College Skopje and the publishing house Ars Lamina the following works: the poem Sê prapthi drijt semiks by Adelina Xhaferi, the poem Jagula by Nenad Jovanov, the short story Krugot na Rampo by Victoria Mitrikeska, the short story Veruvate li vo duhovi? by Renata Jovanovska, the essay Në labirintin e dīnmave të fjetura by Ezana Qamili, the short story Struggle by Verce Miovska and the short story Ora e heshtjes by Valdet Kadria.
