EACH year the Daniel Owen Festival hosts a competition to find the region’s most talented young writers.
The competition commemorates the life and works of Daniel Owen, the foremost Welsh novelist of the nineteenth century who was born in Mold.
The competition promotes creative writing and aims to encourage the next generation of poets and authors.
The topical theme chosen for 2024 is ‘Early Warning’ and ties in with Daniel Owen’s hobby of breeding canaries. The saying ‘a canary in a coal mine’, has long meant an early warning of danger.
Awareness of early warning signs is growing as nature and the environment are increasingly under threat. This can be by small impacts such as littering and the use of toxic chemicals in our gardens; to big environmental changes like the discharging of sewage and chemicals into our rivers and seas and the intensification of agriculture. All of which can have devastating consequences.
Nia Wyn Jones, chair of the Gŵyl Daniel Owen Festival said" “Early warning’ is a big topic writing theme which we hope will inspire young people’s interest and creative ideas.
“For the second year running we’ve been able to offer creative writing workshops to Flintshire high schools, thanks to an award from Community Foundation Wales.”
Entrants can write a poem, short story, song or play in English or Welsh of up to 500 words, related in some way to ‘Early warning’.
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The competition closing date is midnight on Friday 4 October and entries will be judged by established writers. A short list will be created and entrants will be notified by 11 October.
All short listed entrants will be invited to read / have their submissions read on Saturday 19 October at Dance, Song and Stories in Daniel Owen Square. During this Daniel Owen Festival event, the winner in each of the Welsh and English categories will be presented with a glass trophy and each of the two runners up with a book token.
This year’s Daniel Owen Festival takes place from 19 to 25 October. A week packed with
literature, music, spoken word, local history and live performances – something for everyone to enjoy.
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