Inspiring young writers
THE Commonwealth Secretariat and British Council has announced the winners of its Commonwealth Class Writing Competition.
The theme of the competition, which attracted 1,600 entries, revolved around “peace”. It comprised two categories, for students aged between seven and 10, and 11 and 14.
Ananya Mukherjee from Manav Rachna International School in Gurugram, India was awarded the first prize. Her story titled “Bridge of Bliss”, painted a humane and expressive portrait of a grandparent suffering from Alzheimer’s disease in simple, yet elegant, prose.
Second prize went to Hira Siddiqui from Practical Schooling System in Karachi, Pakistan, who wrote on serious themes of nature, peace and sustainability. The third prize was awarded to Alyssa Malley from Churchfields Junior Schools in England, for her tale about the importance of ending conflict through the acceptance of others and recognition of what we all have in common.
In the older category, the first place went to Ren-Wei Yip from St Joseph’s Institution International School, Malaysia, for his story “Christmas Wish”, a classic account on the 1914 Christmas truce. He took part in the competition as he believed it would help provide a unique outlet to pen down his musings. “It also enables the youth to write with depth and sophistication,” he said.
Elena Gourley from Strathearn School in Northern Ireland, whose composition was regarded strange and hypnotic, touching on inner peace and the comforts of reading, won second prize while, Khairat Jimoh from Dependable International School in Nigeria took home the third, writing on war, which had an optimistic ending.
All received book tokens of £100 (RM532), £50 (RM266) and £30 (RM159) respectively.