With a finalist in the Brainfood.ie fantasy writing competition from Mayo, Ireland may well have found its own Stephanie Meyer, JK Rowling, or JRR Tolkien. Ten-year-old Sarah Bourke from St Peter’s NS in Snugboro, Castlebar, has made it to the final 16 – a very impressive achievement when one considers that nearly 5,000 pupils nationwide entered the competition.
Students nationwide were asked to ‘feed their imaginations’ and compose a short story based in the fantasy/science fiction genre. Sarah, a fifth class student, was encouraged to submit her story entitled, ‘Lessons to be Learned’ by teacher Dirika Schonkeren.
There were three categories – primary (fifth/sixth class ), junior secondary (first to third year ), and senior secondary (transition year to sixth year ). The three category winners and overall winner of the Brainfood.ie fantasy writing competition will be announced at a ceremony in Dublin on March 22.
Seventy one pupils from nine schools across Mayo entered the competition.
The overall winner will receive an iPad and an all-expenses paid trip for two to London to be mentored in writing skills by the competition judge, Dr Frank Ryan, and meet with a literary agent. Each of the three category winners will get an iPod Touch and all entrants to the competition receive a copy of Frank Ryan’s book, The Snowmelt River.
