Determined to build next generation of leaders with critical thinking and creative writing skills, The Writers Corner, a Lagos based creative writing school for children in partnership with Vuvuzela Communications Limited, has announced the winners of the fourth rising star writing competition for primary and secondary school pupils in Nigeria.
Uche Udoji, chief executive officer, Writers Corner says out of 655 entries received in 2019, 12 pupils emerged first, second and third positions in the primary and secondary categories of poetry and short stories, adding that another 12 entries emerged as honorary mentions.
Udoji who is also the coordinator, Rising Star Writing Competition and Awards (RSWCA) sponsored by Greenlife Pharmaceuticals said 15 entries were disqualified for multiple entries, entries coming after deadline, lack of originality, submissions that reflected obvious adult assistance and those which reflected a vague understanding of the theme, as well as submission with less than 200 and 500 words for the primary and secondary categories.
The entries in the poem and short stories categories explored the theme ‘It’s Ok to Say No’, with a 200-word limit for primary school entries and 500-word limit for secondary school entries.
Udoji while speaking to Journalists in Lagos to announce the results, said the competition was judged based on plot of the story, vocabulary, content, paragraphing, presentation and descriptive character; length of work and flow of creativity, in both categories respectively, adding that the students were made to think deeply and write at length on reasons to say no and mean it.
According to Udoji, “The theme was a well thought out and intentional move to inspire the children to have a voice as important individuals of the society and stand up for their rights at all times against issues pertaining to all forms of pressure and abuse.
Amaka Nwosisi, head, Human Resource and Public Relations, Greenlife Pharmaceutical Limited on her part, lauded the initiative, pointing out that by participating in the competition such as this, pupils will at an early age develop their literacy and creative writing skills which will further improve their knowledge of the subject matter.
Nwosisi called for support to help pupils in government owned schools to fully participate in the competition.
Giving a breakdown of the performance of pupils in the competition, Udoji explained that some of the popular trends as seen from the entries include but not limited to bullying, sexual related and physical abuses, verbal and emotional abuses, drugs, alcohol and peer pressure.
She observed that the competition has grown since it was flagged of on the 3rd of December, 2015, adding that it has become popular since inception as more schools and individuals have joined making the entries more competitive because more children are writing and striving to put all the writing devices to better use.
KELECHI EWUZIE
