A young writer from Sunshine Bay Public School has taken out top honours in this year’s Eurobodalla Mayor’s Writing Competition.
Holly Kinnane won the Syd Hayes Creative Writing Award and the 10-12 age category with ‘Secrets of a Window’.
Competition judges commended the originality of the story, which is told from the unusual perspective of a window about its view of the world and the characters it meets.
Holly received a beautiful pen handcrafted from local coastal wood by Richard Turley and her name features on the award’s perpetual trophy, which now moves to its new home at Sunshine Bay Public School.
Holly was joined was joined by 15 other young writers, aged five to 18, whose families and friends filled the Council Chambers in Moruya today to hear Eurobodalla Mayor Liz Innes announce the prize winners.
Clr Innes said the unique competition allowed young people the freedom and confidence to creatively express themselves through writing and illustrating.
“I am looking forward to the competition continuing to grow and offering an opportunity for the children in the shire to exercise their creative literary talents,” she said.
Clr Innes thanked competition judges Dianne Wiggins and Mavis Hayes from the Fellowship of Australian Writers, Batemans Bay Writers Festival Director Marion Roubos-Bennett and Jess Camilleri from Eurobodalla Library Services.
“They had their work cut out for them with over 250 imaginative and thoughtful entries,” Clr Innes said.
“The judges felt the standard was so high this year they even issued a number of highly commended certificates to students across Eurobodalla.”
All finalists received a professionally-bound anthology that includes their own story and illustrations. Each winner and runner-up received a certificate and book voucher.
This year’s anthology is dedicated to competition stalwart Mavis Hayes, from the Fellowship of Australian Writers, who sadly passed away shortly after judging this year’s competition. The anthology is a tribute to her commitment to literacy in Eurobodalla.
The 2017 Mayor’s Writing Competition Anthology is available for loan from Eurobodalla’s three libraries at Moruya, Narooma and Batemans Bay. Category winners Age group 5-6: Winner Leila Elliott-Swallow, runner-up Xavier Elliott-Swallow, encouragement award Tara Padman. Age group 7-9: Equal winners Lotus Turner and Kaeleigh Peard, runner-up Chelsea Wood, encouragement award Charlie Hough. Age group 10-12: Winner Holly Kinnane, runner-up Isla Jeffery, encouragement award Ruby Efraemson. Age group 13-15: Winner Lucy Jones,runner-up Matthew Tuckwell, encouragement award Shayla Ta. Age group 16-18: Winner Sophie Brown, runner-up Matthew Klarica, encouragement award Briony Floreani. Syd Hayes Creative Writing Award Winner: Holly Kinnane. Eurobodalla Mayor Liz Innes announced the winners of the 2017 Mayor’s Writing Competition in the Council Chambers on Thursday. Pictured below are the finalists, whose stories are featured in the bound 2017 Mayor’s Writing Competition Anthology : (back row) Briony Floreani, Sophie Brown, Matthew Tuckwell, Eurobodalla Mayor Liz Innes (centre, back), Matthew Klarica, Lucy Jones, Shayla Ta, Isla Jeffery, (centre row) Holly Kinnane, Ruby Efraemson, Lotus Turner, (front) Tara Padman, Xavier Elliott-Swallow, Kaeleigh Peard, Charlie Hough, Chelsea Wood and Leila Elliott-Swallow.
Above:Eurobodalla Mayor Liz Innes, Sid Hayes Creative Writing Award winner Holly Kinnane, Sunshine Bay Public School instructional leader Tracey Bennett and Mayor’s Writing Competition judge Dianne Wiggins, from the Fellowship of Australian Writers Eurobodalla branch.
