Young writers from Flint and Mold Win Prizes in the Daniel Owen Writing Competition

The winners have been announced in the eighth annual Young Writers Competition, part of Mold’s Daniel Owen Festival in partnership with Theatr Clwyd.

The Daniel Owen Young Writers Competition attracted entries from up-and-coming writers throughout the area and from as far away as south Wales.

Open to anyone age 11 – 25, the theme of ‘The Sea’ brought in submissions in the form of short stories and poetry in both Welsh and English. The competition attracted a record 127 entries this year.

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

The winner in the under 11 category was Joseph Jones, from Lixwm and a student at the Ysgol Maes Garmon, Mold for his Welsh language poem Penychain.

It was read by Lynwen Haf Roberts, who began rehearsals this week for the rock ‘n’ roll panto Dick Whittington, in which she plays Sultana, Queen of Morocco.

Daniel Hanson from Flint, a student at St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School, was the overall winner in the popular under 17 category for his story The Sea.

The prize in the under 25 group was taken by Sam Gillard from south Wales for A Hole, a story in three parts.

A shortlist of eleven entries were read in an atmospheric and theatrical presentation by young people from the theatre’s Company 25 and actors Siôn Emyr, Eben James and Anni Dafydd, which took the audience to rooms and locations throughout the theatre.

The winners were presented with a trophy and cheque by Gwennan Mair, who commented “It has been a privilege to read this year’s entries. I have been deeply impressed by the breadth of imagination and talent that these young writers possess. The fact that so many tackled global and political issues in their pieces is extremely encouraging; I can’t wait to read what they write next.”

All who took part were invited to join new writing workshops with professional writers in residence at Theatr Clwyd, which adds additional opportunities for further development to their prize.

The competition was judged by theatre’s Artistic Director Tamara Harvey, the event’s director Matilda Reith, Welsh writer Carri Munn and Gwennan Mair.

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 which takes place every year in Mold during the week of his birth.