Young writers from Flint, Hawarden and Mold are winners in 2017 Daniel Owen Writing Competition.

Young writers from Flint, Hawarden and Mold Win Prizes in the 2017 Daniel Owen Writing Competition, part of Mold’s eighth Daniel Owen Festival in partnership with Theatr Clwyd.

The Daniel Owen New Writing Competition, a highlight of the festival, attracted entries from young writers throughout the area.

Open to anyone age 12 – 25, this year’s theme of ‘Peace’ attracted entries in the form of short stories, poetry, plays and monologues in both Welsh and English by young writers from Flintshire and beyond.

Winners were announced at a ceremony this week at Theatr Clwyd introduced by the theatre’s Director of Creative Engagement, Gwennan Mair Jones and Kevin Matthias from the Daniel Owen Festival.

Welsh novelist Daniel Owen born in Mold on 20th October 1836

The competition was judged by theatre’s Artistic Director Tamara Harvey, playwright Branwen Davies, Emyr John, the theatre’s Creative Associate and Gwennan Mair Jones.

The winner in the under 11 category was Hannah Ryder, from Hawarden and a student at the Elfed High School, Buckley for her prose piece The Evil Washing Machine.

Jessica Edwards from Flint, a student at Deeside Sixth, was the overall winner in the under 17 category for her short story A Moment’s Peace.

The prize in the under 25 group was taken by Carys Jones from Mold for her Welsh language playscript Y Mab Darogan.

Carys is a recent literature and drama graduate from the University of East Anglia in Norwich and is a previous prizewinner in this competition.

A shortlist of nine entries were read by actor Matilda Reith, theatre director Joe Bunce and Gwennan Mair Jones.

The winners were presented with a crystal trophy by Branwen Davies who commented

“It was fantastic to read all the entries. The standard was high and showed great use of imagination and creativity. It was wonderful to hear the shortlisted work be read aloud at the award night. Congratulations to all who took part and keep on writing and creating!”

All who took part were invited to join new writing workshops with professional writers in residence at Theatr Clwyd.

Carys Jones has been invited to work alongside Joe Bunce during the creative process for his innovative new production of The Snow Queen, a Christmas show for under 11s and their families.

Born in Mold on 20th October 1836, Daniel Owen began writing in the 1880s and was first novelist writing in the Welsh language. He was considered a pioneer, exploring new limits in literature and taking part in writing competitions himself. The new writing competition is part of the Daniel Owen Festival, now in its eighth year, which takes place in Mold during the week of his birth.