Literacy skills recognised at writing awards

Stratford Press student writers Jessica Howatson, Dawn Mills and Alyx Devlin have been recognised for their creative talents this week at the 26th annual Ronald Hugh Morrieson Literary Awards in South Taranaki.

Jessica, a WITT journalism student, was placed first in the open poetry section for her piece titled The colour of a poets pen. Jessica also took home second prize in the same category for her poem titled Forever in Darkness.

New Zealand poet and one of the judges of this year's awards, Karlo Mila, was impressed by the variety and quality of entries in the open poetry section and says she was simply "wowed".

"These young people are paying such close attention to what's going on in their worlds and they are capturing it, so honestly, on the page," says Karlo.

"What was particularly powerful is that the young people of South Taranaki are writing about what they know, what they care about, and they are capturing the truth of it, the essence of it, in ways that often only poetry can."

Karlo adds that choosing the winners was a very difficult task.

St Mary's Diocesan student Alyx was awarded third place for her untitled poem in the Secondary Schools poetry division. Dawn, an Opunake High School student, also received accolades in the section, being commended for her poem titled Sanitized Heaven.

Dawn, it seems, also has a knack for short story writing as she won first prize in the Secondary Schools short story competition for a story titled Teachers Pet. She was also highly commended for her short story Rock-a-bye Baby.

Short story judge Eirlys Hunter was also amazed by the secondary school entries in the short story section of the competition.

"I want to congratulate and celebrate the young writers of South Taranaki because so many of them have distinctive, authentic voices.

Like Ronald Hugh Morrieson, these writers know how to tell a story."

Eirlys says she was moved by several stories that gave her insight into the writers' private suffering and adds that the best stories had pace, energy and tension while others were funny, dramatic and sophisticated.

"They had distinctive voices, interesting characters that I cared about, and they also had something to say."