IADT Young Writers’ Competition Winners Announced

We are delighted to announce the winners are:

Finn Wallace from CBC, Monkstown

Aoife Ní Chúinn from St Gerards, Bray

Varshika Mecheri from St Andrews College, Booterstown

Finn Wallace
CBC, Monkstown

Burning Hope

I raced along that dusty path, the silent, solemn atmosphere thickening the air, just as black billowing clouds of smoke and ash seemed to do ahead. It was only supposed to be a routine trip, Hana would visit Tokyo and sell the early harvests. I had never thought it would turn out like this.

The panicked scurrying of the city seemed to grow louder and louder as I ran, my vision becoming more clouded. Jets of fire somehow peeking through the smog filled sky and the water, it was the closest thing I knew to a hell on earth. Still, I ran, never stopping, even as my entire body pained, my head pounding, the heat intensifying.

Thoughts raced through my mind, I couldn’t let my sister die, she would be alone, mixed through all the chaos, she needed me. ‘No!’ I would find her, she’d be ok, it’s all going to be ok.

I neared the city, now seeing the destruction that the earthquake had caused. The sprawling urban metropolis that had seemed so grand was levelled to the ground. Buildings reduced to rubble and soot, the inferno still raging in some parts. Bodies littered the streets.

I held on to the belief that my sister was ok because it was all that kept me going. I rushed through the ruins, trying to identify what was where and where was what. I approached what I thought to be the district she was staying in, hoping I’d find relief. Sweat built up on my brow and I felt an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

Finally, I reached the remains of the small family homestead who had housed us every year since I was just a child. It too was gone. I searched through the debris, hoping for some sign of identification, something to ease the storm of emotions raging through my heart. There was nothing. The few human remains I could find were beyond recognition. I didn’t want to believe any of them were Hana, then I saw it.

A small, tattered piece of cloth, bearing our family insignia. It couldn’t be like this, it was all so sudden, she could still be at one of the nearby shelters. I fruitlessly tried to reason with myself but inside I knew, I picked up the cloth, clutched it to my chest, and fell to my knees, the tarmac beneath me faintly warm.

Finn Wallace

Varshika Mecheri
St Andrews College, Booterstown

An Unsafe

An unsafe, cloudy feeling, like you desperately need someone to steady you, as though you’re indefinitely standing at the edge of a cliff and feel a gravitational pull towards the sea.

This feeling is a bubble I am trapped in. Every morning I wake up and pray for a satisfying day, one that is normal and productive, one where I don’t have to feel the height of my emotions.

The creation of an invisible barrier between me and the rest of the world is ever so prominent. The sun streams in through my bedroom window and I shelter my eyes from its gleaming positivity.

I am scared, for days like this, when the sun is high in the sky, those are the scary unsettling days. Those are the day’s something good could happen, those are the days with hope.

Hope, a blazing fire that cannot be put out by the harshest of climates. It’s what keeps us alive and sane, yet we are all so afraid of burning the world with it, setting unrealistic expectations for us all. In times of distress, no matter the severity, we look to a little glimmer of something for guidance.

This is hope plain and simple, the essence of what it means to be human. Letting our mind wander to negativity and the things that could go wrong is in our DNA.

Our animalistic instinct to scope out predators is heightened in these times of unsettlement. We curb this instinct by making sense of situations and leaning on each other.

Hope is found where hope can flourish, when the sun comes in, from this day forward, I won’t shy away.

Varshika Mecheri

Congratulations to all of the students who took part, the standard of work submitted to the competition was extremely high and we enjoyed reading each piece of work that we received.

The winners will receive a €100 One for all Voucher each and their classes will be hosted on a tour of the National Film School followed by lunch at IADT when public health guidelines allow, we look forward to welcoming them to our campus soon.

The competition was judged by Dr Kevin Wallace, Head of Department of Humanities + Arts Management and Selina Guinness, Writer and Lecturer in English Literature at IADT.