Stefan Sofiski Member Member since 2024

gritty lit creator

Fiction

I’m a Bulgarian immigrant living in the UK, a dad in a neurodiverse family, a structural engineer and then a writer.

Interview with Stefan Sofiski

Where do you prefer to do your creative work?

What kickstarted my writing was the rejection of the advice to build a dedicated space and routine, my life cannot support this. So I keep my stuff on Google Drive, and access it whenever and wherever (on a lunch break, in the bowels of London's underground, in the queue for an oily kebab). I work in short bursts, wherever I get a few minutes.

Who are your literary (or artistic) heroes?

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Stefan Tsanev, Franz Kafka, Augustina Bazterrica...

If you could only take one book on a ten-year voyage, what book would you choose?

War and Piece (I love it but still haven't finished it, and it may take me another ten years).

How much of a typical day (or week) are you able to dedicate to your creative work?

Sometimes five minutes, other times ten or more hours.

How do you celebrate your successes, such as acceptances? How do you handle rejections and other setbacks?

My family is aggressive towards my writing, my friends are uninterested. I post published pieces to my small group of writer friends. I handle rejections badly, swearing in private and mutely screaming into my inbox, desperately trying to stop myself from hitting the reply button and writing "fuck you too".

How much time do you spend reading for pleasure or edification?

About an hour a day, this is how much my life can afford me.

Do you have a personal creative style? How would you describe it?

Dark, choppy, quirky.

Where do you find inspiration?

In my anxieties.

What single creative achievement are you most proud of?

That I keep showing up, despite being almost universally rejected.

What fictional character would you most like to be?

I associate myself with Gregor from Kafka's The Metamorphosis.

What advice would you give to a young, budding writer (or artist) with less experience than yourself?

Keep your writing secret from family and friends.

For your first draft (or sketch), do you prefer analog or digital tools, or a mix?

A mix. I love scribbling in a notebook, but I often lose notebooks which can be a problem.

Do you incorporate generative AI/LLMs into your creative process? If so, how?

Yes. My writing is 100% human, but the solitude of creating often gets to me. I use AI for a private outlet for my frustrations and anxiety.

Are you an unreliable narrator?

No. I hate unreliable narrators. But I love unreliable interpreters.

Last Updated: 24 Oct 2026