PlayHows Multimedia and Hospitality Services (PMHS), organisers of The ACE Annual Children’s Christmas in Ghana Story Writing Competition recently congratulated the winners of the 1st competition of December 2020 in Accra after prizes were awarded.
Young Ghanaian writers of ages 10 to 15 submitted short stories of between 500 and 800 words about Christmas in Ghana to the competition call.
According to Ms. Esi Arhin, an organiser of the competition, the number of entries sent in although limited, was significant and very encouraging to see young people take the opportunity to challenge themselves given that the period of call was short.
In her congratulatory message, she said:
“A big well done to the winners. I am so proud of these talented young writers. With support and encouragement, I can see them going places with their skills. I also want to congratulate all those who took part in the competition. It is not an easy feat to put pen to paper and write. Although your entry may not have been selected this time, know that you are also a winner for daring to try. Do not be discouraged, try again next time. Success is not a one-stop-shop, it is a process that must keep evolving, so you should all be proud of yourselves.”
For the 2020 competition, 12-year-old Abena Adutumwaa Safo, a grade 8 student of the Light Academy School at Adentan bested all the entries to win the gold prize worth 1,000 cedis with “Santa Fufu”.
Joy Abayie Okyere, also 12 years of age is a grade 7 student of Paschen International School in Takoradi. She was the first runner up with her entry, “Hello Hello Santa”, she won the silver prize of 700.00 cedis.
Second runner up, Beatrice Johnson aged 12 is a primary six pupil of St. Anthony Preparatory School, West Ridge, Sekondi, she picked up the prize for bronze, 300.00 cedis and the Frederick Ato Armah Special Prize for Outstanding Imagination with her piece, “Jingle Bells”.
Kelly Smith, 15 years, a student of Accra Grammer School (AGS) won the Ahuntahunu Special Prize for Best Research with his story, “Selfless at Christmas”.
The special prize winners get to select two books of their choice for their reading pleasure.
The winning stories which will all be published, covers subject matters of love, child abuse and charity.
Prof Fredrick Ato Armah, patron of the competition also congratulated the winners.
“You have shown talent, determination, perseverance, hope and hard work. These are critical ingredients of success. You’ve achieved a lot but don’t rest on your oars because there’s so much ahead of you if you pursue your dreams with constant commitment, Ayekoo!!!” he stated.
On how the winners intend to use their cash prizes, young Miss Safo settled on investing her money in a 90 day treasury bill. She says she wants to go to Harvard.
Miss Okyere wants to feel comfortable when writing, so she wants to buy a set of writing desk for home with half of her money and invest the rest.
Miss Johnson on the other hand says she will buy reading books, some stationery for herself and siblings and save the rest so whenever she is in need of writing materials, she can buy them.
Judges for the competition Nana Kwasi Gyan Apenteng, Mr Kwadjo Barwuah, Mr Lawrence Sarpong, Ms Baaba Lindsay, Prof David Oscar Yawson, Mr DC Kwakye, Prof De- Valera Botchway, Ms Joyce Asiedu and Ms Akofa Edjeani drawn from Academia, Creative Arts and Media unanimously say they enjoyed reading the young writers and look forward to this year’s competition.
One of the judges, Ms Baaba Lindsay of Bablin Institute wished to offer a special prize to a particular entry although it did not quite make the cut.
“He made my day with his sense of humour. I had a good laugh.”
The 2021 edition of the competition will have a two-week open window for entries to be sent in, with bigger prizes and more exposure.
Organisers made a call to all businesses to partner or sponsor the competition to propel it to higher grounds and input into the development and growth of the next generation’s creativities for a prosperous nation.
