A Hungarian writer with Bulgarian roots, Tosho Donchev, is this year's winner of the International Short Story Competition "Aleko", Tanya Likova, chief expert for culture in Svishtov and executive director of the Aleko Konstantinov International Foundation, told BTA. The competition is organized annually by the Svishtov Town hall on the eve of the birth anniversary of Aleko Konstantinov, January 13, 1863.
Donchev grabbed the award for his short story "Between the goulash and the tripe soup", which was picked among a total of 104 submissions by 42 writers from 21 countries.
The stories of the contest participants have been published in the Shtarshel newspaper. The results of the competition will be announced on January 12 at the First Chitalishte Community Centre in Svishtov.
Tosho Donchev was born in Budapest in 1944 to a Hungarian mother and a Bulgarian father. He studied Bulgarian philology in Budapest, taking two semesters in Bulgaria. He has translated five novels by Bulgarian writers, dozens of short stories and studies, and has written literary criticism. He has published several books in Bulgaria. He has a PhD in sociology. Since 1991 he has been the chairman of the Bulgarian Republican Self-Government. He became the director of the cultural house of the Society of Bulgarians and founded the Hemus magazine. He is a member of the Union of Hungarian Writers and since 2014 - of the Union of Bulgarian Writers. (BTA)