In 2011 Bulgaria joined the International Writing Olympics, which later became the International Creative Writing Competition. In 2012, the competition expanded to include all public schools, receiving over 800 submissions. The CORPlus Foundation established an independent version called the Bulgarian Creative Writing Competition in English in 2012-2013, offering more opportunities for prizes and recognition. In 2022, over 3,700 students from 147 schools took part in the competition.

The 14th edition of the Bulgarian Creative Writing Competition (BCWC) 2023-24 hosted in Pakistan by Eye on Ivy, presents an ideal platform to capture those ephemeral ideas and poetic expressions. Eye on Ivy serves as the authorized representative of CorPlus, the organizer of BCWC, enabling Pakistani students to partake in this esteemed contest. BCWC endeavors to nurture a deep affection for ingenuity, imagination, literature, and composition.

The BCWC consists of a single round but each writing piece is evaluated twice: once in the preliminary round and then in the national judging phase.

The competition itself is simple. Participating schools choose a date (from the officially announced writing days), a time for their students to write and a supervisor to make sure that during the writing time, students may not consult dictionaries, grammar references, the Internet, other students, etc. The goal is to create their own unique pieces of writing (in English), to think “outside the box”. The morning of the competition, the official topics are sent out by the organizers (Eye on Ivy). Students are given one hour to respond to one of three creative, unusual themes (these are different for each grade level). After the writing time is over, the participants or their supervisor submit (email) their works to the organizers.

Judges assess the works based on specific criteria to select the best entries. Participants who don’t qualify receive participation certificates. The chosen works advance to the international level, where they are evaluated again, and top pieces receive first, second, and third place awards.