site.btaUPDATED Iveya Mireva and Boyan Tasev Win Hedgehogs' Spines Writing Competition

Nine-year-old Iveya Mireva and 14-year-old Boyan Tasev were honoured on Saturday as the winners of this year's Hedgehogs' Spines children's creative writing competition. President Iliana Iotova and Deputy Minister of Education and Science Senya Terzieva presented the awards at Sts Cyril and Methodius National Library on Saturday.

The competition, organized by the Mormarevi Brothers Foundation, is in its 20th edition. The competition has two age groups - 7 to 10 and 11 to 14 - and two categories: essays and short stories on a topic of the entrant's choice.

In the 7 to 10 age category, Mireva received an award for her short story The Lying Dragon. In the 11 to 14 age category, Tasev received the prize for his story The Parrots Flew Away. Second-place awards went to Alexa Dimova (age 7) for Curly Thoughts and Dayana Florova (age 11) for My Blue-Eyed Hero. Another 18 children were nominated by a jury consisting of Zdravka Evtimova, Boyko Vassilev, Ivo Siromahov, Petar Chukov, and Boyko Lambovski.

In her speech, President Iotova said all the stories showed that literature would never die and that it lived on in children. She strongly opposed pointing the finger at children and telling them they knew nothing beyond their phone screens. The entrants showed what children were capable of, she said, noting that one had described reading as fashionable. None of this would be possible without families and parents who taught their children and introduced them to books from a very early age, or without excellent teachers and educators, she added.

She told the children that entering the competition and daring to express their thoughts and feelings in writing were a major achievement and a great victory in the book of life.

The competition gave children the opportunity to express all their talent in words, Iotova said. She described it as an exceptional opportunity for all children, particularly at a time when they faced dangers on all sides linked to advanced technology and artificial intelligence.

Terzieva congratulated the children, their families and teachers. She wished them a successful school year and many future successes.

Last year's winners were seven-year-old Aleksa Dimova for her story Arrogant Streets and 13-year-old Leon Petrov for Finn's Heart.

The Mormarevi Brothers, Marko Stoychev (1931-2006) and Moritz Yomtov (1921-1992), wrote the books Feed a Dog to Make It Bark (1967); A Problem with Many Unknowns (1976); The Hedgehogs' War (1979, 1993); Vasko da Gama from the Village of Rupcha (1982); Men Without Moustaches (1987); Bobi the Head (1988); Lili (1998, 2006); Father Christmas and the Seven Robbers (2001, 2014); Before 1969: Diagnoses of Those Times (2003); Raponcho (2004); and The Diary of Asen Gazurkov (2006).

Their screenwriting credits include The Ancient Coin (1965); Hedgehogs Are Born Without Spines (1971); With Children at the Seaside (1972); A Poor Man's Summer (1973); Nako, Dako, Tsako (1973); Exams at Odd Hours (1974); Two Dioptres of Long-sightedness (1977); A Problem with Many Unknowns (1977); The Hedgehogs' War (1979); The Double (1980); Vasko da Gama from the Village of Rupcha (1986); The Prince's Third Fiancee (1987); Men Without Moustaches (1989); Goodbye, Rio (1989); Come On, Grandpas (1991); Bai Ganyo Goes to Europe (1991); and Lili (2007, a Bulgarian National Television series), the foundation noted.