Mullingar students reach final of hot press competition
Mullingar students Caragh Maxwell and Aoife Hynes have been shortlisted for the Hot Press Write Here, Write Now competition.
The judging panel consists of Man Booker Prize winner Roddy Doyle, IMPAC Award winner Kevin Barry, Rooney Prize winner Claire Kilroy, Hot Press editor Niall Stokes and composer/songwriter Julie Feeney.
The prize for the overall winners includes an internship at Hot Press, a magazine famed for nurturing young talent.
Roddy Doyle himself has commented that some of those shortlisted are “frighteningly good – surprising, sharp, sometimes chilling, confident.”
For his three novels, Roddy Doyle invented a suburb on the north side of Dublin and called it Barrytown. The challenge for students, in this unique writing competition, was to create, in a similar way, an imaginary new place, as the location for a piece of creative writing; to set the scene; describe the surroundings; create a sense of the environment and its people; and to capture the language they use.
Here’s a little about the Mullingar candidates shortlisted:
Caragh Maxwell (20) from Mullingar is studying Arts in NUI Maynooth. A lover of literature, wine, swearing and general debauchery. Half extremely cynical, half hopelessly idealistic, and completely selfcontradictory, she is the proud (if slightly exasperated) 'mother’ of two chihuahuas with extreme attitude problems.
Aoife Hynes, a student in Loreto College, Mullingar, is a 17-year-old spoken word artist. Hynes chiefly pens poetry. She has performed her work at the Lingo Festival 2014 and came third in Cuisle Young Poet Of The Year 2013. As well as writing, Hynes is a filmmaker – her work has twice made it to the regionals of the Fresh Film Young Filmmaker Of The Year awards. She is heavily involved in her local arts centre, recently performing in Cats.
The overall winners will be decided upon after much further deliberation from the judging panel, however, the public can now also get involved by telling Hot Press which entries really caught their eye!
Go to www.hotpress.com/writeherewritenow and press the 'TELL US YOU LIKE THIS’ this button to also put Caragh and Aoife in the running for the special Write Here Write Now Readers’ Award.
All the shortlisted entries can be read at www.hotpress.com/writeherewritenow, where you can show your support for your county in The Readers’ Award.