2015 Article Competition Results
Michael Pearcy, Martin Trepte, Lorraine Forrest-Turner and Lee Taylor
Results of 2015 Article Competition (2015-12-09 15:26:19)
And the results were:
1st and the SW Article Competition Trophy: The ANZACs and Us by Michael Pearcy
2nd: The Road Not Taken by Lee Taylor
3rd: To Leave or Not To Leave - That Is The Question by Lorraine Forrest-Turner
Newspaper Editor Judges Article Competition
Slough Writers held their last meeting of the year at The Palmer Arms in Dorney on Monday (07 December) and used the event to announce the winners in their annual article writing competition.
The judge of the competition was Maidenhead Advertiser editor Martin Trepte who was asked to select the winning three articles from ten entries. The task set for the competition was to write a 1000 word article on the theme 2016.
Martin Trepte said, "The entries, while very different, were all excellent and picking the top three was exceptionally difficult as they were all winners in their own unique ways. I enjoyed reading them immensely and I needed to read them all several times to pick the winners.
"There was a wide range of subjects chosen by the writers including a biographical piece about Jimi Hendrix, a look at the life of William Shakespeare which asked what we really know about the bard and a sideways look at leap years, their history and the people born in them.
"The article I selected as the winner was The ANZACs and Us by Michael Pearcy who wrote about the origins of the famous Harefield hospital during the First World War and told of the wounded ANZAC soldiers that were treated and of the 112 who died and were buried in the village churchyard. It's not the story of the bricks and mortar hospital but of bonds forged in the tragedy of war between communities separated by half a world that has lasted to this day.
"Second in the competition was Lee Taylor's piece about the Robert Frost poem The Road Not Taken. Martin commented, "This was a really thought provoking piece and the more I read it the more I got out of it. I think it will resonate with anyone who stops to think about the what-ifs and alternative possibilities and the idea that for every decision we take a new parallel universe is created."
The third placed article was entitled To Leave Or Not To Leave That Is The Question written by Lorraine Forrest-Turner which looked at different types of questions and how we use them. Martin said, "Another great thought provoking piece that challenges perceptions and makes the reader think. Taking the in-out EU referendum as its starting point it looks at the very nature of questions themselves. And we learn they are far more complicated than we might have thought. The writer tackles the subject with great clarity, aided by entertaining examples and a great vein of humour running throughout."
The evening finished with readings of the winning articles and a question and answer session in which Martin fielded questions from the nineteen writers at the meeting.
