Amara Odugwu from Merrifield College was announced as the winner of the second annual Vrij and Karuna Harry Young Writers Competition.
Founded last year, the competition aims to cast a spotlight on local young talented storytellers in accordance with the dreams of the late Vrij and Karuna, who believed that the Eastern Cape had the potential to become the mecca of national storytelling and that Harry’s, as the local publishing giant, had an important role to play in the development of local literature.
The competition saw hundreds of entries from pupils across the city, all of a remarkable standard. Judges had to choose between 11 essays, 16 short stories and 147 poems.
Nicollette Tumbari, from Clarendon High School for Girls won second place for her poem and Anne-Marie Addey from Kingsridge High School for Girls won third place for her short story.
The winners received R3,000, R2,000 and R1,000, respectively. The authors will have their work published soon in the second Harry’s Young Writers anthology.
Odugwu, who is in grade 12, followed in the footsteps of her classmate who placed first in last years’competition.
Following the prompt ‘Blue’, she was able to write a winning essay about a complex journey of young motherhood.
She said: “I conjured up a tale of a young woman dealing with the deeply shameful thoughts she’s experiencing, on her own, postpartum and tentatively reaching out to help from her doctor for her baby blues.
“The story is written in two timelines: the past of joyfully anticipating the baby and the present of resenting the infant.
“I wanted the reader to understand and experience the emotions of the protagonist. As I had no first-hand experience with pregnancy, I researched the impact of postpartum depression on mothers to write a nuanced story,” Odugwu said.
NICOLLETTE TUMBARI
Tumbari said she enjoyed using her writing to express emotions and feelings that everyone relates to.
“In all my poems, I try to humanise the difficult things we struggle with by using the different senses and figures of speech to help the reader visualise and feel what I am writing about.
“Poetry is an integral part of me and how I choose to express myself, so the love of art is what made me sign up. I want to continue writing and allowing readers into my world. I also want to attend workshops and experience other people’s writing as well,” Tumbari said.
Addey used her short story Second Place, First Loser, to share an important message about the academic pressures pupils face with.
“I’ve always wanted people to see and appreciate my writing. Participating in this writing competition enabled me to do that.
“I plan on using the prize money to buy more novels and books so I can have more inspiration,” Addey said.
