On Friday 29th August, a very special event happened in the Whare Wananga: it was the prize giving for the Our Stories poetry competition that was piloted at Avondale College this year.
Students were invited to submit a piece of creative writing based on a family story. The judges were looking for stories that conveyed a feeling of the experiences of the people and the time period. They were looking for the human aspect rather than just a dry recounting of facts – a sense of why the story is special to the writer. Some of the stories made us laugh, some of the stories made us cry – but they were all excellent.
The winners were:
Junior Winner - Lucy Chen
Memory tea
Runner up - Kanna Yamasaki
Stallion
Runner up - Abdul Zahir
Uncle Moi
Senior Winner - Alison Officer
More than just a story
Runner up - Wondim Gebreyesus
And tomorrow….
Runner up - Oscar Mardell
Daniel
All the stories have been produced as a book and a copy of this was presented to all finalists during the prize-giving as well as being available in the Auckland Research Centre Central City Library, Special Collections Central City Library, Avondale College Library and Avondale Community Library.
SkyCity Community Trust and Avondale Community Board generously sponsored this competition.