A grade 11 pupil stole the show at the third annual Vrij and Karuna Harry Young Writers Competition when her riveting poem won top honours last week.
Seventeen-year-old Iviwe Mlahlwa, a grade 11 pupil at Clarendon High School for Girls, walked away with the first prize and a R3,000 cash award.
The runner-up, Aeryn Ann Kroon, received R2,000, while the third-place winner, Yerusha Moodley, walked away with R1,000. All prizes were sponsored by Harry’s Printing.
The budding young writer told Go! exposure to both the urban way of life and the harsh struggles in her ancestral homes of Xhora and Komani shaped her worldview.
Mlahlwa said history, philosophy, sociology, economics, and social issues, interested her.
Her winning entry focused on growing up in SA as part of the “so-called missing middle”.
The poem shed light on inequality, service delivery failures, dignity and identity in today’s society. It also confronted the reality that the economic and social conditions of most black households were shaped by “class legislation and structural designs”.
“Writing this [poem] was not easy. It required honesty that made me feel vulnerable. It took strength to sit with the discomfort and write anyway, and to stop editing myself into someone more polished, someone easier to digest.
“In a way, this was the first time I let my writing carry the full weight of my insecurities. . .
“But it also gave me freedom. It turned private experiences into something larger — that could speak to others. To have that recognised is an honour,” said Mlahlwa.
“[Writing] helps me process, resist, and make sense of the world. In the future I hope to study finance, investment banking, or economics.”
The competition, which has grown steadily each year after receiving a huge response from East London schools, now focuses on grade 8 to 11 pupils.
It was conceived by Poonam and Priya Harry, directors of the family-owned Harry’s Printing, with their employees, to honour their late parents, Vrij and Karuna Harry.
Poonam said their aim was to encourage talented pupils while enriching the province’s literary tradition.
Vrij passed away in August 2022 and Karuna in May 2023.
To bolster the standing judging panel, Poonam, Priya, Roy Hewett and Johan Rich; this year’s panel included Lori-Ann Preston, best-selling author of fantasy series Thabo the Space Dude! and academic, Tando Keke, who released her debut non-fiction book The Strength of a Real Woman in February.
Poonam said more than 100 schools were invited to participate, but she was concerned with many pupils’ topics focusing on depression and the harsh struggles youth were facing.
