City of South Perth awards young writers

The awards were open to people living in or attending school in the City of South Perth.

The Christobel Mattingley Bronze Medallion, awarded to the most outstanding entry in any given year, was presented to Year 8 Mercedes College student Lily Graves for her entry Sooner or Later.

First prize awards were presented to Year 1 students Christian O’Neill and Evan Ratcliffe, both from Aquinas College.

The first prize for lower primary went to home-schooled student Madeleine Pink, while Paige Chilcott (St Columba’s Catholic Primary School) and James Richardson (South Perth Primary School) shared second prize.

The highly commended award for lower primary went to Nate Dodgson, |of St Columba’s Catholic Primary School.

In the upper primary category, Ethan O’Connor and Riley Plester, both of Aquinas College, received first and second prize respectively.

Emily Lassam, of Penrhos College, was highly commended, along with Ella Richardson, of South Perth Primary School, and Hannah Symons, of Como Primary School.

Penrhos College was well represented in the high school categories, with first prize for upper secondary going to Charlotte Harvey-Lissienko and second prize in lower secondary to Helena O’Sullivan.

Amelia Jones, also from Penrhos, was highly commended in that category.

First prize in lower secondary went to Lily Graves, from Mercedes College.

A total of 455 entries were presented for judging.

“Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the South Perth Young Writers Award is an achievement for the City and I acknowledge the time, effort and support of everyone involved that has ensured this event has continued,” City of South Perth Mayor Sue Doherty said.

“It’s wonderful to see such talent in our City and I encourage all those who have such a strong interest in writing to continue to develop your skills in this area.”

Each year an anthology of winning entries is produced to recognise the achievement of the young writers, with copies of these anthologies available to view at South Perth Library.

The 2016 anthology is available to view in the library section of the City’s website.

Entries for the 2017 awards will open in early January.