Saving the art of letter writing from oblivion – this is the idea behind the organisers of the “Letter” literary competition. This unique competition, the only one of its kind in the country, was inspired by a mailbox stuffed to the brim with advertisements Beaty Widery from GOKiS. “I thought then that I would really like to receive a normal letter,” says the competition’s originator and organiser.
The slogan of this year’s edition was “Thank you... I’m sorry” – its interpretation was left to the participants. The event was held under the patronage of the Szczecin branch of the Polish Writers’ Association. The letters were assessed by a competition committee consisting of: Róża Czerniawska-Karcz, poet and head of the Szczecin PWA, Barbara T. Dominiczak, poet, and Rafał Podraza, poet and journalist.
The first prize in the 10–13 age category went to Laura Przydróżna from Kruszyna. The second prize was awarded ex aequo to: Alicja Kucharska from Szczecin and Michael Ziembikiewicz from Nowa Wieś. Third place went to Dominika Kulczycka from Brzeźnik. The commendations went to: Joanna Walczyńska and Kamil Drzastwa (both from Szczecin).
Among 14–15-year-olds, the best letter was written by Roksana Salwerowicz from Bolesławiec. The judges awarded the second prize ex aequo to: Martyna Stasiak from Bolesławiec, Magdalena Batkowska from Gryfice and Kinga Rudy from Szczecin. The commendations went to: Szczecin resident Roksana Siwek and Katarzyna Marciniszyn from Dębno Lubuskie.
In the 16-and-over category, the first prize went to Bolesławiec resident Elżbieta Erban. Second place went to Danuta Buryło from Tomisław, while third place went to Czesława Knafel from Bolesławiec. The jury also awarded three commendations. They went to: Adam Szewczyk from Szczecin, Bolesławiec resident Anna Guzik and Szczecin resident Joanna Żurawska-Fleming.
Below, we present the competition committee’s comments:
The jury, appreciating the idea of promoting the art of letter writing, which is disappearing in the age of text messages and emails, selected the winners—the senders of letters in three categories—from dozens of entries submitted, after a lively discussion. Some of the works received equal awards.
In the category of letters written by primary school students, we appreciated the aesthetic quality and even the ingenuity in decorating the letters (selected stationery, careful handwriting and authenticity of the content).
In the other age categories, this care was already lacking. Only a few letters were written on stationery; many were downright careless (torn sheets, not even trimmed, crossings-out in the text and illegible handwriting). [...]
The judges considered Mrs Elżbieta Erban’s letter from Bolesławiec to be a model example of epistolary writing because it met all its criteria. Beautiful, correct Polish, fluent expression, a wide range of subjects and legible handwriting. Therefore, the judges unanimously awarded the author the prize of the President of the Polish Writers’ Association, Szczecin Branch [podkreślenie – red.].
Some letters did not meet the criteria of this genre. The submitted works included stories, fairy tales, reviews and reports that lacked the elements characteristic of forms indicating that they belonged to the letter genre. A letter should be written on an aesthetic sheet of paper, in correct Polish, without spelling mistakes!
We are concerned to note that many guardians and parents of younger letter writers allowed them to submit unchecked works full of spelling, grammatical, inflectional, punctuation and stylistic errors.
The jury congratulates the prize winners and those receiving commendations. We also express our appreciation to the originators and organisers of this valuable and much-needed competition, thanks to which the tradition of communicating beautiful words with a pen is being cultivated.
One would even like to echo the Poet – Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, who would have turned 120 on 24 November:
“When you write to me
Don’t type everything on a machine
Add one line in your own hand
It really is nothing great.”
The award ceremony will be held on Friday, 25 November, at the Kruszyna restaurant in Kruszyna. It will begin at 5:30 p.m.. The media patron of the competition is the Istotne.pl website.
(information: GOKiS in Bolesławiec/ii)