Never ones to say no to a celebration, particularly a literary one, we were delighted to be invited to the prize-giving ceremony of Sutton’s ‘100 Word Heroes’ flash fiction competition last week. The competition had been part of the ‘Heroes’ themed workshops we ran in partnership with Sutton Council for their Imagine Festival 2011.
The ceremony was held in the corner of the bright, airy foyer of Sutton Central Library where we gathered and chatted over tea and muffins and browsed the large display of entries. In attendance were the winners and runners-up representing both categories (Under 16s and Over 16s) along with support from friends and family as well as others who had taken part in the competition. Having been involved in the judging for the competition, it was particularly nice to able to put faces to some of the writing and meet the winners and participants alike.
Musing over the entries it was interesting to see the different interpretations of the ‘heroes’ theme, particularly across the categories. The younger participants had conjured up super-heroes and alter egos to great fantastical effect, whilst the entries from the Over 16s had subtler themes and twists, and many focussed on the unsung heroes of the everyday. Common to all though, was the quality, inventiveness and economy of writing; it takes some heroic skill (excuse the pun) to write something good in so few words.
We took our seats for the awarding, which was preceded by a few words from Iqbal Hussain, Cultural Services Manager for Sutton. He talked briefly about the Imagine Festival and the wider initiative of sports and cultural activity which is running as part of the borough’s ongoing celebrations in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics. The winners and runners-up were then called up one by one to be congratulated and receive their prizes, before all being invited to read their entries to the small but captive audience. Some were more nervous than others but all read confidently and it was a lovely addition to the evening.
Many congratulations go to 10 year old Dayna Mistry from Wallington and to Penelope Clark from Effingham who were the winners of the Under 16s and Over 16s respectively. Both received £40 in Book Tokens for their impressive entries. Dayna’s entry was a fantastic poem about the Olympics and Penelope’s was a great short piece of prose which included a clever twist when you realise the supposed super-hero, having to go about his day after a long night of good deeds, is actually a young boy who’s been caring for a sick relative.
Additional congratulation go to Amruta Prasad from Cheam, Manette Arulanandam from Sutton, Promilla Mullen from Ewell and Daniel Haskell from Wallington (Manette sadly couldn’t attend on the night) who were the worthy runners-up and each received £20 in Book Tokens.
The ceremony ended with some group photographs and some more chatter on all things literary, as people slowly began to drift off home. We departed inspired and enthusiastic and we can’t wait for future collaborations with Sutton in the coming months, as the grand Olympics draw ever closer and the excitement and anticipation continues to build.
Sutton Heroes Competition Winners
From left to right – Daniel Haskell, Amruta Prasad, Penelope Clark, Dayna Mistry, Promilla Mullen
