AAS Sofia Student Poets Write and Publish for Real Audiences

By collaborating with another English Speaking high school, AAS Sofia poets get experience with publishing and promoting their masterpieces. 

Every year AAS Sofia publishes a student literary magazine composed of short stories, poems, photographs, visual art, and other creative submissions by students in the secondary school. While the magazine, titled LUX, is published in the spring for students, the momentum to create and refine is a year long process. Though largely a student lead and run magazine, the teacher sponsors, Ms. Sofia Mazloum and Ms. Violeta Vassileva, know that getting students excited about writing poetry and short stories throughout the year is a significant determining factor in the success of the ultimate publication. And that is where the “DeLux competition” comes in (DeLux being a clever wordplay between “LUX” and “deluxe”). 

The DeLux competition is a biannual collaboration with another English Speaking high school in Sofia. In both the fall and the spring the schools organize a writing competition with a focus on either poetry or short stories. Students at AAS who are on the LUX editing team advertise the competition in the morning announcements, through advisories, in English classes, and by hanging clever Canva posters around campus to encourage students to submit their work. A panel of judges, usually teaching staff at both schools, review the anonymous submissions and select their favorites. Afterward, the teacher coordinators at both schools consolidate the results and announce the winners at a shared lunch hosted by one school each term. Finalists get a book store gift certificate and everyone gets some chocolate and a chance to share their writing with each other. 

Not only is this a way to foster relationships in the broader Sofia community by collaborating beyond our own school, it also offers students with similar interests a chance to discuss, debate, and share their passion for writing. This generates continued excitement that AAS students bring back to their AAS peers to inspire others to continue to submit for LUX. This authentic collaborative experience that results in the real experience of publishing polished pieces is both motivating and inspiring. While the competitive aspect is one component, it is by far the passion for creativity, and the desire to share with an authentic audience, that keeps our students writing, revising, sharing, revising, and ultimately publishing, whether or not they win the top award. 

A huge congratulations for the first place award winner, an eighth grade AAS student, for the poem titled: ”Luchadoras Silenciadas (Silenced Fighters)”, along with all the finalists at both schools. The winning poem explores the challenges girls face in finding their own voice, especially when they confront gender stereotypes (in this case, culturally rooted in “machismo”). In reading the poem, girls are encouraged to rebel against expectations of being solely “quiet, obedient/pleasant and beautiful” and find the strength to dream, take space and speak out against injustice.