queen's essay competition 2021 winners

Camilla welcomes Essay Competition winners with first speech as Queen Consort

Camilla gave her first official speech as Queen Consort at a Buckingham Palace reception for winners of the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition on Thursday.

Camilla began her speech by paying tribute to the Queen, who had been a patron of the Royal Commonwealth Society since 1952.

She said: “Over the past few months, my husband and I have drawn immense comfort from the messages of condolence that we have received, and continue to receive, from the four corners of the world.

“They have reminded us that the written word has a unique ability to connect, to heal, to reassure and to offer hope, even in the midst of grief.”

Camilla, who became vice-patron of the society in 2018, added: “All of us are bound together by a profound appreciation of the written word and of our Commonwealth.

“This wonderful, extraordinary, richly diverse association of independent and equal nations, and friends, is, truly, ‘ours’, belonging to each one of us, and the connections between us run deep.”

She finished her speech with a quote by the late South African president Nelson Mandela, who she described as a “great writer”, saying “a winner is a dreamer who never gives up”.

A record-breaking 26,322 children entered the 2022 competition, with the winners and runners-up from New Zealand, Australia, the UK and India.

The senior winner was 17-year-old Sawooly Li from New Zealand. Ms Li said Camilla “was lovely” and had spoken to all the nominees individually, adding that the day had been “an amazing experience”.

Ms Li told the PA news agency: “You see Buckingham Palace on television, but you never expect you would come here yourself.”

The junior winner, Madeleine Wood, 14, who lives in Melbourne, Australia, said Camilla had made all the winners “feel relaxed” before going on stage, adding that the American novelist Donna Tartt was one of her favourite authors.

Extracts from the winning pieces were read by Royal Commonwealth Society ambassadors including Alexandra Burke, Ayesha Dharker, Geri Horner and Ben Okri.

Mr Okri, the 1991 Booker Prize winner, said Camilla had “become our great literary Queen Consort”, before reading out Ms Li’s winning entry, Willow Trees and Waterholes.

Ms Horner, also known as Ginger Spice from the Spice Girls, recommended The Book Thief by Markus Zusak to Camilla, who said she had it on her “reading board” for the Royal Reading Room.

Camilla also met three previous winners and runners-up from 2020 and 2021, who were not able to attend awards ceremonies due to Covid restrictions.

For 2022, the competition theme was Our Commonwealth, reflecting on the Queen’s seven decades of service to the Commonwealth.

The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition is the world’s oldest international writing competition for schools.

It was founded in 1883 by the Royal Commonwealth Society to promote literacy, expression and creativity among young people throughout the Commonwealth.

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Camilla congratulates winners of Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition

The Duchess of Cornwall drew words of wisdom from a favourite redheaded literary character (and met another famous ginger) when she welcomed young winners of the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition to St James’s Palace for a special reception.

Sharing a passage from the novel “Anne of Green Gables,” Camilla, who serves as Vice Patron of the Royal Commonwealth Society, spoke about the special bond members of the Commonwealth share.

“To quote the famous Canadian literary character, Anne of Green Gables, ‘I’m so thankful for friendship: it beautifies life so much,'” she said. “Our Commonwealth community gives each of us 2.4 billion friends. And I believe the 2.4 billion of us do much to beautify life for one another: rejoicing in each other’s successes, benefitting from each other’s wisdom, and supporting and sustaining one another through difficult times.”

Along with award-winners and their families, competition judges, and literary figures, Geri Horner, better known as Ginger Spice of The Spice Girls, also attended the event. Horner, who serves as a Royal Commonwealth Society Ambassador, greeted Camilla in a video tweeted by Daily Mail reporter Rebecca English. In the footage, Camilla chatted with the star, telling her that Prince Charles was “a complete workaholic” when Horner asked how he was doing.

The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition is the world’s oldest international writing competition for schools and each year, young people are asked to submit essays responding to a specific theme. The Duchess of Cornwall congratulated the 2021 senior winner, 16-year-old Kayla Bosire from Nairobi, Kenya, and the two runners-up, Aditi Nair and Raisa Gulati, both from India. Due to travel restrictions, Camilla presented a certificate via video call to 13-year-old Ethan Charles Mufuma from Mukono, Uganda, who was this year’s junior winner.

During the event, the Duchess of Cornwall also met Cassandra Nguyen, the 2020 Junior Winner from Canada, since the 2020 awards were presented virtually.

Camilla also shared her joy at the essay competition’s record-breaking number of entries, with 25,648 young people submitting essays – the most since the contest began in 1883. She went on to give her own version of an essay based on this year’s theme, “Community in the Commonwealth,” although she noted she doubted “that they would qualify me as a Senior Winner – or even a very, very Senior Winner.”

Speaking about the power of storytelling, the Duchess of Cornwall praised how “the young people who enter this Competition bring us together with their powerful stories, essays, poetry and letters on the issues that most matter today, making the profound accessible.”

Ending her speech by stressing her determination “to visit more Commonwealth countries as soon as I can,” the Duchess of Cornwall circled back to Anne Shirley. “And now I shall heed more wise words from Anne of Green Gables,” she said, sharing that “the point of good writing is knowing when to stop.”

The Royal Commonwealth Society, founded in 1868, works to improve the Commonwealth through efforts in youth empowerment, education and high-level advocacy. The Society founded The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition “to promote literacy, expression, and creativity among young people” throughout the Commonwealth’s 54 member nations.

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Winners of the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition 2021 announced

RUZAIK FAROOK

COLOMBO – The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition 2021 was held recently. The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition is the world’s oldest international writing competition for schools, established in 1883. With thousands of young people taking part every year, it is an important way to recognize achievement, elevate youth voices and develop key skills through creative writing.

A number of Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards was given in both the Senior and Junior categories, rewarding excellence in writing. All successful participants received a Certificate.

The Commonwealth is a voluntary network of 54 countries, based on a shared English language

The winners of the competition of Harcourts International school students received Gold Award – Fathima Amaani Shafeek, Silver Awards – Aina Nisfan and Maimoona Fazlan, Bronze Awards – Aamina Nusrath Ahmad and Zaaraa Ahamad Zubair.

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Camilla praises Commonwealth during award ceremony for essayists

The Duchess of Cornwall has paid tribute to the “unity, purpose and friendship” of the Commonwealth saying those who belong to it are “incredibly privileged”.

The duchess, delivering a speech at the prize-giving ceremony for the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition (QCEC), said the 2.4 billion members of the Commonwealth “beautify life for one another”.

Camilla vice-patron of the Royal Commonwealth Society, hosted the awards for this year’s essay prize, welcoming young winners to London for a reception at St James’s Palace.

Geri Horner, the former Spice Girl, also attended the ceremony to read one of the winning essays, while singer Alexandra Burke accompanied Cassandra Nguyen, the 2020 Junior Winner from Canada, who met the duchess ahead of the ceremony.

When Horner asked after the Prince of Wales who was famously photographed with a lipstick kiss mark on his cheek after receiving a peck from the singer, the duchess told her he was “fine”, if a “complete workaholic”.

When the celebrity told the duchess about a book she had read which claimed working is the key to a long life, the duchess agreed “Don’t retire!” before joking “that’s not my problem.”

In a speech to guests, Camilla wondered aloud about what she would have written if she had entered the prize as a child, under the topic “Community in the Commonwealth”.

“I think it might go something like this,” she said.

“Those of us who are part of the Commonwealth of Nations are incredibly privileged to belong to this wonderful community of 54 countries, sharing a spirit of unity, purpose and friendship.

“To quote the famous Canadian literary character, Anne of Green Gables, ‘I’m so thankful for friendship: it beautifies life so much’.

“Our Commonwealth community gives each of us 2.4 billion friends.

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“And I believe the 2.4 billion of us do much to beautify life for one another: rejoicing in each other’s successes, benefiting from each other’s wisdom, and supporting and sustaining one another through difficult times.”

Saying she had already witnessed the power of the prize in her travels around the world, she added: “I am determined to visit more Commonwealth countries as soon as I can, and I promise you that I will always seek out the QCEC wherever I go.”

Founded in 1883, it is believed to be the world’s oldest international writing competition for schools and aims to promote literacy, expression, and creativity among young people throughout the Commonwealth.

This year, nearly 26,000 children entered on the theme “Community in the Commonwealth”, with 130 judges whittling entries down to a final four winners.

The winners were Kayla Bosire, aged 16 from Nairobi, Kenya who flew to London to be presented with her award, and 13-year-old Ethan Charles Mufuma, who had a Zoom call with the duchess from the British High Commission in Uganda.

Runners-up, who also visited St James’s Palace, were Aditi Nair aged 15 from New Delhi, India, and Raisa Gulati aged 14 from Amritsar, India.

Judges included bestselling author Dame Susan Hill, author Hiya Chowdhury, head of research for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Dr Paul Edmondson, poet, painter and writer Sia Figiel, theatre maker Femi Elufowoju Jr, and Emeritus Professor Satendra Nandan from Fiji.

Christabel, Rui Yu among gold winners in Commonwealth essay competition

Christabel Lau

KUCHING (Oct 5): Christabel Lau and Ong Rui Yu of St Joseph’s International School (SJIS) here were among 171 gold finalists out of 25,648 participants in the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition 2021.

According to a press statement, the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition (QCEC), which was established in 1883, is the world’s oldest international writing competition for schools.

With thousands of young people taking part each year, it is an important way to recognise achievement, elevate youth voices and develop key skills through creative writing.

This year’s competition is themed ‘Community in the Commonwealth.’

For Lau, participating in competitions like QCEC allowed her to explore the depths of her creativity and expand her knowledge on what was happening around her.

“It took about a week for me to come up with different ideas on how I’d want the story to go. The story concept had been revised thrice before I was set on the current concept.

“It was my goal to make the drafting journey as fun as possible and it took about two months before I came up with a final draft that I was proud of,” she said.

She thanked her English teacher Ann Armstrong for introducing a variety of writing competitions last year and encouraging her students to participate in them.

“I probably wouldn’t have been aware of the QCEC without her. It was also because of her that I was able to improve my writing skills so drastically,” she said and encouraged students to challenge themselves in writing competitions.

“You really do learn and gain a lot of awareness on a variety of topics such as climate change, life and so on.”

Ong meanwhile chose to write on the topic ‘Keeping Connected through the Covid-19.’

“It was a challenge to gather my thoughts and feelings about an ongoing pandemic when all I wanted to do was escape from this world. It took one month of many idea changes, drafts, and edits before this work today.

”I wanted to show people and document their experiences – both highs and lows. Major sources of inspiration were ‘Night’ by Elie Wiesel and two pieces of music – ‘Moon Song’ by Karen O and ‘I’m Forrest…Forrest Gump’ by Alan Silvestri,” she said.

When Ong heard that she was one of the gold finalists, she said the news came like a “spring breeze amidst a period of stressful studying.”

“I felt grateful that God has granted me this achievement and I was pleased that my results have improved compared to last year’s Silver.

“I hope to hone my skills even more to achieve Winner next year if God wills it,” she said.

She encouraged aspiring writers to read more to expose themselves to different ways of expressions; to know what they’re trying to convey and to be creative.

“Understand your audience. QCEC is searching for creative, profound works and it’s an avenue to spill your hearts out. Most importantly, don’t stop halfway,” she said.

Meanwhile, Lydia Ting, also from SJIS, achieved a Silver Award from QCEC.

“It took me around five days to finish the essay and when news reached me that I had won Silver, I was very surprised and glad as it was really unexpected.

“I am beyond grateful and privileged to receive this award,” she said and thanked Armstrong for introducing and encouraging both her and her classmates to join this competition.

She said joining QCEC had opened her eyes and motivated her to become a better version of herself.

“I would like to encourage other students to join because you never know what you can achieve if you don’t try. Anything is possible if you set your heart on it and work hard.

“I myself am looking forward to writing again in the future,” said Ting.