Two young women from Westmeath were among the 50 students at the Mansion House, Dublin last Wednesday after being shortlisted for the national writing competition, Write Here, Write Now.
Laura Berrigan and Aoife Hynes, who are both from Mulllingar, were at the national awards ceremony where the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Críona Ní Dhálaigh was on hand to honour the finest young writing talents the country has to offer.
Entrants were encouraged to draw inspiration from this year’s Two Cities One Book selection, Lia Mills’ Fallen, in creating a story of Ireland.
Laura Berrigan, who is studying at DCU, received one of just four Very Highly Commended Awards for her script which compares the Ireland of the past with modern life. “They asked us to write our own story of Ireland. It’s a conversation between an old man and a young man about the old and the new Ireland and includes topics such as the legalisation of same-sex marriage and the many different nationalities and cultures that now live here.”
Laura, who chose to bring her granddad to the awards, said that competition encouraged her to write about something she previously wouldn’t have given much thought to. “It’s not something I would ever have thought about but the theme kind of forced me to write about something I would never have chosen. I talked to my granddad and he was talking about how Ireland has changed so much since he was young. I got inspiration from my granddad for the character in my script and then the young person is more my mindset.”
Before the Lord Mayor unveiled the overall winners and regional runners-up, Lia Mills was interviewed by Hot Press’ own Roisin Dwyer, in which the author offered advice to aspiring scribes in attendance as well as looking back on her own life and work. She also took time to commend the extraordinary talent displayed by the entrants. “I wish that at your age I was as together as you all are,” she smiled. “I’d have saved myself a lot of time!”
Aofie Hynes, who is in sixth year at Loreto College, was also shortlisted for her poem about the Irish educational system. “The theme was ‘A Story for Ireland’ so that meant that it was very open and that you could be very creative. I wrote about my disillusionment with the Irish education system. My piece was free-from poetry because that’s how I write. I talked about students’ identity being drowned in a uniform and their mental suffering due to exams to get into college. I don’t think the points system measures your ability a lot of the time.”
The winners were chosen by the judging panel – which included Hot Press Editor Niall Stokes, Contributing Editor Olaf Tyaransen and authors Christine Dwyer Hickey, Glenn Patterson and Joe O’Connor alongside Mills – and prizes included an internship during 2016 with Hot Press as well as a €250 cash prize. Winning participants also received a personal journal from Paperblanks.
