17-year-old Durbanite Inessa Rajah has won the 2016 Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition – the world’s oldest international schools writing competition – for her short story “Dr Congo-man”.
The winning essays were selected from approximately 13 500 entries spanning the five regions of the Commonwealth.
Representing nearly every Commonwealth country, entrants wrote about contemporary issues including the Syrian refugee crisis, conflict migration in Africa and finding a diasporic identity.
Rajah was named the Senior Winner. Senior Runner-up Esther Mugalaba, 19, comes from Lusaka, Zambia.
The Junior Winner and Runner-up, Gauri Kumar, 13, and Tan Wan Gee, 14, respectively, are both Singaporean nationals.
Entries were assessed by a pan-Commonwealth body of judges, drawn from more than 30 different countries across the globe. Judges described the entries as “inspirational”, “ambitious”, “profound’, “moving”, “imaginative” and stated that “the future of the Commonwealth is bright”.
The four pan-Commonwealth Winners and Runners-up will attend the traditional “Winners Week” in London in October of this year: a special programme consisting of cultural and educational activities. The week will culminate in an Awards Ceremony at Buckingham Palace where The Duchess of Cornwall will present the Winners and Runners-up with their certificates on behalf of The Queen.
Director of the Royal Commonwealth Society Michael Lake said: “The four young people chosen as the Winners and Runners-up of the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition 2016 represent the very best and brightest that the Commonwealth has to offer. Their essays and poems explore contemporary themes with maturity, intelligence and depth beyond their years. We are proud of them and the thousands of other young writers who entered the competition this year from all around the Commonwealth.”
Rod Smith, Managing Director of Education at Cambridge University Press, said: “The Royal Commonwealth Society shares our vision of empowerment through education, and we’re thrilled to be sponsoring The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition once again. The quality of the entries this year were exceptional, and all of us at Cambridge University Press would like to extend our congratulations to the winners.”
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The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition was founded in 1883 and is the world’s oldest international schools’ writing contest. The competition is sponsored by Cambridge University Press and received approximately 13 500 entries from almost every country in the Commonwealth.
The Junior category is open to entrants aged 13 years and under and the Senior category is open to entrants aged 14-18.
The overarching theme for 2016 was “An Inclusive Commonwealth”, which is also the 2016 Commonwealth Year theme, and a topical theme for today’s youth. Both Senior and Junior topics gave young people the opportunity to think about aspects of the theme such as: the significance of community; the importance of diversity and difference; the question of belonging; the values of tolerance, respect and understanding; and the sense of shared responsibility that exists within the Commonwealth today. The topics were a chance to develop critical thinking and to express views in a creative manner.