The 4th annual DUT Writing Centre Competition Awards were held yesterday (Wednesday, 7 September 2016) where competition contestants who had done well were awarded for their excellence.
The awards were held at the Botanical Gardens Conference Hall, St Thomas Road, Durban.
The annual DUT Writing Centre Competition is an annual event open to DUT undergraduates and aims to promote reading and writing amongst students. The 2016 competition was in honour of the late Lewis Nkosi; a DUT Honorary Doctorate recipient, writer, essayist, critic and journalist, to name a few.
This year’s theme was Heritage, Language and Society and was divided into three categories: Poetry, Essays and Short Stories.
The competition is said to have grown over the years, with 2016 seeing 133 entries from 122 in 2015. “We want students to realise their full potential,” said Dr Gift Mheta who heads the DUT Writing Centre. “Let us continue writing. We can only get better,” he urged those in attendance.
Siphesihle Mthethwa, second-year Batchelor of Education student, won first prize in the Short Story category for his short story: Boys to Men. Sboniso Ngcobo, second-year Consumer Science student, won first prize in the Poetry category for his poem: Let me tie my shoes while Adriana Ogle, first-year Journalism student, won first prize in the Essay category for her essay: Why would you hurt my sister?
Ogle, first time entrant was thrilled at her performance. “I was caught completely off guard but would like to thank DUT and the sponsors for the opportunity. Writing has always been my passion and to be given a platform to express myself has been phenomenal. I hope this competition can continue to bring out the best in DUT students,” she said.
Although thrilled, Mthethwa is no stranger to the crown for the short story category. He also took first place last year (2015). He acknowledged the Writing Centre tutors and is happy to have won again.
The winners walked away with laptops, Oxford second edition dictionaries, oxford thesaurus, A4 DUT branded notebooks as well as a copy of Lewis Nkosi’s book: Mandela’s Ego which was also received by all contestants.
– Phumeza Msongelwa
Pictured from left: Siphesihle Mthethwa, Short Story category winner; Sboniso Ngcobo, Poetry category winner and Adriana Ogle, Essay category winner.
