University of East Anglia announces winners of writing competition

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13: The University of East Anglia (UEA), one of the UK’s top 15 universities, today announced the winner of its inaugural writing competition, Your Success Story, for 11th Standard students in India.

In addition to a cash prize, the winner is invited to attend a 2019 International Summer School at UEA, to hone their writing skills.

Participating students from 36 schools across 13 cities in India submitted creative pieces on politics, climate change, conservation, geoscience, media studies, biography-writing, economics or international development. The entries were to be in the form of an essay, poem, blog post, short story, news article or a diary entry of 800 to 1200 words. The submissions were judged by senior academics and shortlisted by a panel convened by Dr Daniel Rycroft, the chair of UEA’s India Dialogue.

First place went to Sehar Batra of Sanskriti School in Delhi, who presented a stimulating biography of her grandfather. She was awarded a cash prize of INR 45,000, along with a certificate of participation and an all-expense paid trip to the UEA International Summer School in Norwich.

The Sanskriti School was also awarded with a complimentary place at UEA’s Teachers & Advisory Conference in June 2019 and an opportunity to take part in an academic workshop, delivered by a world-leading UEA academic.

In second place was Pavithra Nair, of GEAR Innovative International School in Bangalore, who produced a challenging and personal autobiography. Third place went to Abinav and fourth place went to Vidushi Bhartari, both of the National Public School Koramangala in Bangalore. Pavithra was rewarded with a cash prize of INR 30,000, while Vidushi and Abinav were each rewarded with a cash prize of INR 20,000. Each of the final four candidates will also be eligible for a 20 per cent scholarship towards tuition for each year of study upon successful application to a UEA course in future.

Director of UEA International, Karen Blackney, said: “The response from Indian schools and students has been most encouraging. The quality of essays penned by Indian students on topics encompassing climate change, politics and economics were full of fresh insights, which is a sure sign that the future of our world is in good hands. We hope and believe that a competition such as this can spark creative and critical thinking and help students to think beyond existing boundaries.”

The University of East Anglia pioneered the teaching of creative writing in the UK, offering the first MA Creative Writing in 1970. The faculty and alumni of UEA’s School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing include acclaimed authors and critics from around the world, namely Kazuo Ishiguro, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature; Booker Prize Winners, Ann Enright and Ian McEwan; and finally Professor of Contemporary Literature, Amit Chaudhuri.