Filitsa Safianou-Mullen was born in Stuttgart, Germany in 1962 and was raised in Kalamaria, Greece. She moved to Kent, Ohio in 1984 to attend Kent State University. She taught writing and literature at the American University in Bulgaria since 2004. She was a poet, essayist, translator. She wrote in English and Greek.
Filitsa Safianou-Mullen Creative Writing Competition
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The late Filitsa Sofianou-Mullen was one of AUBG’s emblematic figures. Apart from being a distinguished literary scholar and a beloved teacher, she was also a fine poet. Her poetry combines honesty with sophistication, spontaneity with erudition, and introspection with resistance. Filitsa Mullen’s book of poetry Prophetikon was published in English and Bulgarian.
The goal of this competition is to find and encourage talented young writers, thus keeping alive Filitsa Sofianou-Mullen’s spirit of devotion to literature and to her students. All AUBG students and Alumni are eligible for participation.
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Short pieces of prose fiction (up to 2,000 words) and poems (up to 200 lines) are invited, with a limit of one submitted piece, prose or poetry, per student. All submitted work must be previously unpublished. Entries must be in English and work previously submitted to the competition is not eligible. There will be separate prizes for each category, prose and poetry; entries will be blind reviewed by two members of the department.
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Please be sure to remove any identifying information from the file, as entries are read blind. In the subject line of your email write the title of your entry exactly as it appears on the attachment. Send entries as an attachment to the Department Chair, Prof. Lyubomir Terziev: [email protected].
For any queries, please email the Department Chair, Prof. Lyubomir: [email protected].
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Sunday, March 8th, 2026 (11:59 p.m.)
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Entries will be blind-reviewed by two members of the department.
- Judges for fiction: Prof. Michael Cohen & Prof. Cathy Adams
- Judges for poetry: Prof. Vladimir Levchev & Prof. Anita Tarnai
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The winners of the competition will be announced at the annual AUBG Honors Convocation on Saturday 25th April 2026. The winners will also be notified by email.
The LAT Department reserves the right not to award prizes if there are insufficient entries in either category
There will be separate prizes for each category, prose and poetry.
- First - $250
- Second - $100
- Third - $50
