‘SEE ME’ ANNOUNCES SHORTLIST OF CREATIVE WRITING COMPETITION FINALISTS
- Finalists announced in short story, poetry and tweet categories-
‘see me’ announces the names of the short-listed finalists who have made the final cut in the first ever creative writing competition. They are:
In the poetry category: Nicola Mullan from Paisley, Evelyn Weir from Haddington, Elizabeth Sinclair from Dunoon and Colin Ferguson from Ayr.
In the short story category: Kris Haddow from Paisley, Kay Smith from Edinburgh, Henrietta Edwards from Moray and Stephen Barrett from Glasgow
In the Twitter category: @sianbevan; @painting; @starofvenus; @manofmanyatoms
The competition attracted hundreds of entries from budding writers, of all ages from across Scotland in the three competition categories of short story, poetry and tweet. Entrants were challenged to write about the theme of ‘support’ and what it means to them. For people with a mental health problem, seeking support from those around them can be a real turning point in putting them on the road to recovery.
Amateur writers from across Scotland put pen to paper in hopes of impressing the panel of judges; children’s author Lari Don, Dundee Street Poet, Gary Robertson and well-known comedian and political activist, Mark Thomas.
Short-listed finalists will attend a lunchtime awards ceremony in April where one lucky finalist from each of the three categories will be presented with the top prize of £250 Amazon vouchers. The final winners will also see their work publishes on the ‘see me’ website and in an anthology to be released later this year.
Suzie Vestri, ‘see me’ Campaign Director, says: “The competition theme of ‘support’ highlights the role that friends and family play in helping to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health problems through simply being there. People have really expressed what ‘support’ means to them in creative and original ways and I know that I speak on behalf of the judges when I say that it’s been a really tough job to narrow it down, all the finalists should be incredibly proud to have made it into the final shortlist.”
Children’s author, Lari Don said “The ‘see me’ creative writing competition is a fantastic opportunity for people to use the written word to explore and share their experiences of ‘support’. As someone who copes with depression myself, I know that the written word, and the spoken word, can both be wonderful ways for family and friends to show support and understanding, and to help people live with and recover from mental health problems.”
Gary Robertson, Poetry Judge, says: “For me, being asked to judge the poetry entries was a great honour and very humbling at the same time, the standard was excellent and I enjoyed it immensely. There is no denying the facts about mental health issues and just how many folk it actually affects, it’s very gratifying to know that a project such as ‘see me’ is offering the chance for people to put pen to paper and write from the heart.”
“The bravery and honesty which each person put into their work was very strong and very emotional for me to read. I’m really looking forward to meeting the writers and sharing experiences of writing. Hopefully I can pass on some positive energy on the values of writing as a means to possibly helping channel the mind in other directions.”
Mark Thomas, Twitter Judge, says: “Twitter forces the user to use simple language and short words, to communicate plainly and within 140 characters. There were some really lovely ones but the short-listed entries are the ones that really stood out. Well done to all involved!”