MOVING TALES and poignant poetry in Rotary young writer competition
story by: JAMES BOLTON
Stories and poems about identity, companionship and connection were the powerful winners in the 2023/24 Rotary Young Writer competition.
The theme for the 2023/24 competition was ‘Rebuilding’.
Rebuilding lives and rebuilding communities are aims and threads which run through all elements of Rotary’s service activities.
Expression is at the core of the Rotary Young Writer competition, with the broad theme leaving contestants with a wide scope to create a piece that is pertinent to them.
In the Junior category, Rebecca Eapen’s poignant story, ‘The Right Choice’, told from the perspective of a dog, who is the loyal companion of a soldier. Amidst a chaotic war scene filled with explosions and destruction, the dog witnesses the tragic death of his partner, leaving him heartbroken and grieving.
Orla Emmerson was crowned champion in the Intermediate category. Orla’s story follows Ronny, who picks up scattered Lego pieces dropped by a boy at a busy train station and later creates a new figure during his journey.
At their destination, Ronny returns the rebuilt Lego figure to the boy, symbolising a small act of kindness and connection amongst the hustle and bustle.
A moving piece of poetry by Alisha Clark was the winning entry for the Senior category. Drawing on themes of identity, the powerful work is told from the perspective transgender person, not only wrestling with their own self, but also the torment and discrimination felt from others.
Judges in this year’s competition were Charlotte Vaughan, manager at Kenilworth Books Shop and poet, Chris Campbell.
Charlotte, who has a Master’s Degree in Victorian Literature, found love for books by reading the classics such as Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, now reads a wide variety of contemporary fiction and loves recommending her favourite recent reads to customers.
A former journalist, Chris has his collection of poems ‘All Island No Sea’ published in 2022 and has been recognised with a number of accolades, including winning the Guernsey International Poetry Competition in 2022.
Extracts from this year’s three winning Young Writers can be read below.
THE RIGHT CHOICE
BY REBECCA EAPEN
1st place - Junior category
North London Collegiate School
Sponsored by West Fife Rotary, Scotland
"Crash!" The bomb plummets to the ground, dropped bynoisy airplanes, clogging the sky with smoke and metal shapes. My heart pounds deafeningly. Without warning, a thunderous noise screeches. The bomb has met the ground, and in an instant, rubble and shrapnel are exploding in a gigantic surge of destruction. I instinctively bury my head into his warm chest. I can feel his heart beating fast, like mine.
Suddenly, I am thrown into the air, landing painfully in a heap, several metres away. Immediately, I sprint back. But it's too late. His expression is lifeless and still, and a pool of blood collects next to his face, dripping from a red gash on his cheek. I can see every vein in his pale skin,thin, blue riverstraced on. I whimper and lie next to his limp body, knowing his heart beats no more.
He's dead. Gone. Completely wiped from the face of the earth. I won't move. The realisation hits like a splash of seawater. I've never felt pain like this. We were a team, my partner, and my best friend. I was more than his colleague, I was his faithful, beloved dog. Together we patrolled the streets while he stood guard, and I sniffed for bodies buried beneath the war rubble.
I gaze at the pandemonium. Buildings crash like dominoes, and the sky is an orange hue, as if on fire. Wails and shrieks travel through the air like piercing lightning bolts.
REBUILDING
BY Orla Emmerson
1st place - Intermediate category
Denstone College
Sponsored by Uttoxeter Rotary, Staffordshire
It was 12:55am, on Monday the third of October, when this story began. London Euston station was bustling with holiday traffic. Ronny and his dad were being jostled about by the swarming mass of people around them. Clinging on tightly to his dad's hand, Ronny found his way into a clearing. A tall, stern looking woman marched past them on her high heels, pulling a small boy behind her. He had mousy brown hair and blue eyes, which sparkled in the light. He was wearing a waistcoat and trousers, but Ronny could tell that he wasn't comfortable by the disgruntled look on his face. In his hand he held a colourful lego bird, with shiny green feathers and a dazzling orange beak.
The boy's mother yanked him forward, into the crowd and towards the platform, causing him to drop his lego bird. It fell to the floor and smashed; an explosion of colours rained down. The boy reached out in dismay to grab the pieces, but his mother was oblivious to the tragedy. Reluctantly, he was led off towards his train. Without thinking, Ronny rushed over to where the bricks had scattered, and started stuffing them in his pockets. When he had collected them all, he stopped to look around for where the boy went. But, the boy was nowhere to be seen. "Come on Ron," his dad said "we don't want to miss our train."
BY Alisha Clark
1st place - Intermedia category
Ormiston Rivers Academy
Sponsored by Burnham-on-Crouch & Dengie Hundred Rotary, Essex
do i make a pretty boy
or do you still view my binded chest and choppy hair
as an ‘ugly girl’ phase?
my skin hugs me
in the way i wish it couldn’t excuse my flaws
through a fogged mirror
my knees bounced under the desk
and the raw skin on my arms turned red and scarred as i continued to scratch away
at the parts of me i hated
bathe me in androgyny
and the slurs you wish to claim serve me to the anatomists
but they’ll dig up my bones with the wrong name
it’s better than witnessing the discard from others
they choose over making someone else happy
because if you knew the shit we go through
you’ll know transphobia kills.
and this is where it starts.
FULL RESULTS
Junior CATEGORY: UP TO 10-YEARS-OLD
1st place – Rebecca Eapen, North London Collegiate School, sponsored by West Fife Rotary, Scotland
2nd place – Rose Russell, sponsored by Troon Rotary, Scotland
3rd place – Lisa Smyth, St Colman’s National School, sponsored by Mullingar Rotary, County Westmeath, Ireland
INTERMEDIATE CATEGORY: 11 TO 13-YEARS-OLD
1st place – Orla Emmerson, Denstone College, sponsored by Uttoxeter Rotary, Staffordshire
2nd place – Seanan Gallgher, St Mary’s Coloughcor, sponsored by West Fife Rotary, Scotland
3rd place – Charlie Frieland, Catmose College, sponsored by Rutland Rotary
SENIOR CATEGORY: 14 TO 17-YEARS-OLD
1st place – Alisha Clark, Ormiston Rivers Academy, sponsored by Burnham-on-Crouch & Dengie Hundred Rotary, Essex
2nd place – Jennifer Greene, Gryffe High School, sponsored by Gryffe Valley Rotary, Scotland
3rd place – Samuel Fry, Tiverton High School, sponsored by Tiverton Rotary, Somerset
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