Around one hundred texts were submitted for the third edition of the “Letter” competition, announced by the Municipal Culture and Sport Centre in Bolesławiec with its registered office in Kruszyn. They included works from various parts of Poland and a letter... from the United States.
This year, the jurors did not award the main prizes because of the equal level of the submitted texts. Thirteen authors received distinctions. “We tried to select the most interesting letters from each group,” said Maria Sobolska, a member of the competition committee, during the ceremony held on Friday, December 12, at the Vinci pub.
The juror emphasized that some of the works lacked “personal involvement” – the letters resembled homework assignments. Other texts did not meet the competition requirements. “Some were letters only in their heading and signature, while in fact they contained a short story,” Sobolska noted.
The competition entries varied greatly. Some were moving and sad, addressing such serious subjects as disability (Patrycja Wojtczak’s letter from Kruszyn) or drug addiction. Others, by contrast, were cheerful, telling of first infatuations and fascinations.
As in the previous year, many of the young authors addressed their texts to loved ones who had passed away. The jurors were often surprised not only by the participants’ literary inventiveness, but also by their artistic abilities – some of the works were beautifully decorated.
The distinguished authors included residents of Bolesławiec County, Paweł Zakrzewski from Mława, and Lucy Greenleaf Norvich from the United States. Her mother, Mrs Zofia from Nowogrodziec, collected the award on her behalf. “Rev. Twardowski wrote: let us hurry to love people, they leave us so quickly. My daughter spent many years away from her father and could not fully express what she felt for him. When her father was gone, she realized how much she had lost,” Mrs Zofia said during Friday’s meeting.
To save the art of letter writing from being forgotten – this was the idea behind the “Letter” literary competition. This unique competition, on a national scale, was inspired by a mailbox from the GOKiS, filled to the brim with advertisements, Beata Widera’s. “I thought then that I would like to receive a normal letter,” the competition’s originator and organizer told IstotneInformacje.pl.
Here are the names of those distinguished in this year’s edition:
- in the primary school category: Marcela Stachnio from Kruszyn, Paulina Ferlewicz from Mierzwin, Emila Rzepka from Kruszyn, Emila Bysiec from Stara Oleszna, Marek Tobiasz from Trzebień, and Patrycja Wojtczak from Kruszyn
- in the middle school category: Aleksandra Bartczak from Bolesławiec, Karolina Borowska from Stare Jaroszowice, Izabela Szulkowska from Bolesławiec, and Marta Kozioł from Parzyce
- in the upper-secondary school and adult category: Adrianna Piasecka from Bolesławiec, Lucy Greenleaf Norvich from the United States, and Paweł Zakrzewski from Mława.
The competition’s media patron was the IstotneInformacje.pl service.
(GA report)