We are thrilled to announce the results of the UACS School of Foreign Languages Creative Writing Competition for High School Students 2025. The Creative Writing Competition was open to all high school students from North Macedonia who could send their works of any genre in Macedonian, English, French, German or Italian.
We received 103 submissions, out of which 92 works arrived within the deadline announced in the Call. All submissions revolved around the Competition’s theme, a pivotal choice that triggers change, and respected the assigned word limit. More than half of the submissions were written by first-year high school students, followed by third-year students, second year students, and five submissions were written by fourth-year high school students. Eighty submissions were written in English, 21 in Macedonian, and 2 submissions were written in German. The majority of entries were prose works, chiefly personal essays and short stories, while poetry accounted for 15 submissions. The use of AI was detected in some submissions.
The submissions encompassed a wide variety of themes: romantic love; adolescent life and dilemmas; personal and collective trauma; current tragic events in our society; the horrors of war; the dangers of dictatorships; historical events and figures; feminist and gender issues; motherhood; dystopian and futuristic themes; mythology; horror, crime and mystery stories; even fan fiction. The young emerging creative writers drew inspiration from all aspects of life and demonstrated high sensitivity to both intimate and personal themes and social issues pertinent to the whole world. We applaud the students’ broad interests spanning across cultures, times, and topics. Intertextual and intermedial references were also noticeable which is commendable.
Out of the 92 timely submissions, 18 works were shortlisted, 5 of which were awarded first, second, and third prize. The awarded works are characterized by unique interpretation of the theme, engaging plot and character development, effective use of language, narrative or poetic techniques.
The Jury of the Creative Writing Competition for High School Students 2025 awards:
Three first prizes in three categories:
- First Prize for Best Poem: Born of a Choice by Enea Ziberi, first-year student at “Nikolla Shtejn” High School (Kamjan)
- First Prize for Best Short Story: I Went to See a Psychic by Lazar Popov, third-year student at NOVA High School (Skopje)
- First Prize for Best Essay: The Choice that Changed Everything by Jakov Novakovski, first-year student at “Georgi Dimitrov” High School (Skopje)
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Second Prize (in all categories): A Choice that Changed Everything – I was born twice, and I refuse to die a statistic by Damjan Pop-Atanasov, second-year student at “Orce Nikolov” High School (Skopje)
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Third Prize (in all categories): Изборот што промени сè – 00:00 by Katerina Dimovska, fourth-year student at “Nikola Karev” High School (Skopje)
The short-listed works with honorable mention from the Jury are the following (according to the date of submission):
1. Орфејово врталиште, by Sofija Vukovikj, third-year student at Nova High School, (Skopje)
2. Escape by Vasilisa Kurzakova, third-year student at “Mihajlo Pupin” High School, (Skopje)
3. Изборот што промени сѐ – На сите кои го погрешиле својот животен патоказ… by Bojan Dimovski, fourth-year student at “Georgi Dimitrov” High School (Skopje)
4. Meet Me at the River, by Lana Paunoska, second-year student at “Kiril Pejcinovikj” High School (Tetovo)
5. Crawling back to You, by Sara Toshikj, third-year student at American High School Skopje (Skopje)
6. A Choice That Changed Everything – the Great AI Rebellion by Vancho Kolev, first-year student at “Jane Sandanski” High School (Strumica)
7. A Choice That Changed Everything – When humanity worshiped, sacrificed and prayed to ancient gods by Jana Mucheva, first-year student at “Jane Sandanski” High School (Strumica)
8. A Choice that Changed Everything – ‘What made them go this far… what was that choice that changed everything—the one to end humanity?, by Aleksej Rizov, first-year student at “Jane Sandanski” High School (Strumica)
9. Famous, by Argentina Bunteska, fourth-year student at American High School Skopje (Skopje)
10. The Silence Beneath the Waves, by Luna Bojadzi, third-year student at American High School Skopje (Skopje)
11. Изборот што промени сè – TAA, by Jana Kitanovska, first-year student at “Josip Broz-Tito” High School (Bitola)
12. Thank you for Saving the World, by Matej Nikolovski, third-year student at “Rade Jovchevski Korchagin” High School (Skopje)
13. Caladrius Resurrection, by Iva Aleksoska, second-year student at “Josip Broz-Tito” High School (Skopje)
We congratulate the awarded students and all participants who submitted their works.
We strongly encourage you to keep writing, develop your skills and style, read and stay attentive, inspiration is everywhere. You are the future writers and the world will read your works. Whether your name appears on this list or not, your words and ideas matter. Every story, poem, or essay you write strengthens your voice, empowers you and can inspire others. This is just the beginning, keep writing! UACS School of Foreign Languages will continue to support you in your creative endeavors and offer opportunities to be heard.
This competition clearly demonstrated that our youth is active, brave, talented and eager to be read. We would like to thank all the mentors who encouraged their students to enter this competition and are an indispensable part of the meaningful change we are creating together by inspiring the youth to thrive, grow, and develop their creativity.
All participants will be awarded Certificates of Participation and their works will be published in a special volume of the UACS Creative Writing Department in the academic 2025/2026.
Jury of the UACS School of Foreign Languages Creative Writing Competition 2025
