„I don't believe that there are children who don't like to read, only those who haven't found the right books for them.“ This is how Katerina Dobreva describes her work with students from the "Castalia" Literary Club at the Municipal Children's Complex in Varna.
This school year, 15 children from second to twelfth grade are studying at the school. They meet at least once a week, but the conversations about books, writing and competitions continue outside of classes. Students share what they have read, what they are writing and what initiatives they are going to participate in.
The club brings together different ages
The age difference does not hinder communication between the children. The older ones explain and tell stories to the younger ones, and the work is often divided between writing and editing. The classes do not take place as a standard lesson with pre-set points, but as conversations, examples and discussions of interesting books and personal experiences.
For Dobreva, creative writing is possible only when there is a desire. She defines children who are fascinated by literature not as different from their peers, but as more active and more inclined to try new things.
Parents also play an important role. According to the head teacher, they support the students without doing the work for them. Some of the mothers and fathers also write, and together with the children, a tradition has already been created for a monthly meeting, called the “Castalia“ evening.
Ten awards in the “Stoyan Mihaylovski“ competition
Recently, ten graduates of the club received awards in the 19th National Student Competition for Literary Creativity and Journalism “Stoyan Mihaylovski“. The grand prize was awarded to Simona Kotomanova, who has been attending “Castalia“ for seven years and writes both poetry and prose.
First prizes were awarded to Kristiyan Manushev, Yulia Todorova, Boyan Tasev and Monika Atanasova. Second prizes were awarded to Yoana Vasileva and Simona Mondjlovska, and third prizes were awarded to Delyan Petkov, Maria Taseva and Lyubena Peeva.
Kotomanova is a laureate of other national literary competitions and was a scholarship holder of the Varna Municipality under the program “Measures for the Protection of Gifted Children“ for 2024. Three students from the club also prepared a presentation on the occasion of the Day of the People's Enlighteners.
Former students return as presenters
Former graduates are also involved in the activities of “Kastalia“. Alexander Gabrovski has already led a short story workshop, and the next planned activity will be dedicated to generating creative ideas for poetry and prose.
Dobreva took over the leadership of the club last school year, after she herself had been part of it since 2018. She graduated in Bulgarian Philology at the Shumen University “Bishop Konstantin Preslavski“ and teaches at the “St. St. Cyril and Methodius“ Secondary School in Beloslav. For her, school and literary school are two activities she does not want to give up.
Sources: bta.bg, varnae.bg