Here are the results of the Jivan Creative Writing Contest – 2023. The contest elicited short stories from 22 young writers, from all the different regions of India. Jivan thanks all the Rectors or Superiors or Directors of our Formation Houses, and Institutions who helped by encouraging their wards to participate.
The short stories had to be set in today’s Asia, highlighting people, events or trends that offer us hope for the future. The jury consisted of 5 gifted, knowledgeable persons – 3 men and 2 women. First, Fr Francis Peter, SJ Director, Joseph Knowledge Hub, and three professors of the Department of English here at St. Joseph’s College, Trichy, Tamil nadu, India – Fr Paul Pragash, SJ, Fr Gilburt Camillus, SJ, and Ms. Cheryl Davis read all the stories and assessed them. They came up with a shortlist of 10 stories.
Ms. Christine Gomes, a versatile writer, author and the former Head of the Department of English, Holy Cross College, Trichy, read carefully all these 10 shortlisted stories and chose the three winners and two ‘meritorious’ stories.
The first prize of Rs 5,000 goes to Sch Agil Roy James, SJ, (KAR). He is a first year student of Philosophy at Jnana Deepa Institute, Pune. The second prize (Rs 2,000) goes to Sch Denver A. Pushpam, SJ, (KAR), who is studying for his graduate degree in Journalism and Optional English at St. Joseph’s College, Bangaluru. The third prize, (Rs.1,000) goes to Sch Ashish Kumar Beero, SJ, (JAM), who is now a second year student of philosophy at Satya Nilayam, Chennai.
Of the two meritorious stories, the story ranked the fourth was written by Farhan Khan, who is a Class 12 student at St. Xavier’s High School, Patna. A Class 12 student! She will go places, don’t you think? The other ‘meritorious’ story, ranked the fifth, was written by Sajeev Painunkal, SJ, (CAL), who is now doing his tertianship in Sri Lanka.
What does Ms. Christine Gomes has to say about the ten stories? “Almost all of them have paid attention to the theme and the character portrayal. But many of them are descriptive and lack a clear cut storyline. Quite a few stories have errors in English – grammar and sentence structure.”
She has precious words of advice and encouragement to all those who want to become successful writers: “Do a Google search on the elements of a short story. Internalize them. Keep writing on themes that mean something to you. Extensive reading of good English is the best way to improve one’s writing. All the best to you!”
While this issue carries Agil Roy’s story that won the first prize, all the other four will be published in Jivan.
We recall with gratitude what makes these awards possible year after year – the thoughtful grant made by the Mascarenhas brothers – Fio and Frazer, SJ – in memory of their dear parents, Francis and Flora Mascarenhas.
– Editor
