Strand Library patron Skyler Plaatjies (10) was named the winner in the Afrikaans category of the City of Cape Town’s Library and Information Service’s writing competition for learners aged between nine to 13 and 14 to 17.

The competition, which closed on Wednesday 28 August, saw 131 stories submitted with category winners announced at the Open Book Festival held at the Homecoming Centre in Cape Town on Saturday (7 September).

Learners who entered the competition had to write a story about an environmental hero, either as a short or long-form story, graphic novel, picture book or novel. Writing workshops were held at numerous libraries to assist learners in acquiring writing skills. Stories were submitted in English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa.

The category winners are:

Age category (nine to 13)

English
– winner: Isabella Ismail (11) from Wynberg Library; runner-up: Lethabo Nhlapho (12) from Wynberg Library;

Afrikaans
– winner: Skyler Plaatjies (10) from Strand Library; runner-up: Elmone Tromp (11) from Huguenot Square Library;

isiXhosa –
winner: Uzuko Zenani (10) from Moses Mabhida Library; runner-up: Alinda Zonke (12) from Moses Mabhida Library;Age category (14 to 18)

English –
winner: Cadence Marinus (14) from Ocean View Library; runner-up: Latita Matyhila (17) from Langa Library;

isiXhosa –
winner: Sinalo Taho (17) from Harare Library; runner-up: Lilitha Macamba (15) from Nyanga Library;

The Afrikaans category received no entries.

The winning submissions will either be published, or loaded onto the Library Service’s Libby app. The winning stories for the nine to 13-year-old categories will be used for the Library Reading Programme that will be rolled out in December.

“We are pleasantly surprised by the number of entries, the excitement and the quality of the stories submitted by the learners,” said Patricia van der Ross, Mayoral Committee member for Community Services and Health.

“The success of the writing competition is a shining example that our libraries are well visited and play an important role as a knowledge centre in our communities. I would like to congratulate all those who participated and especially the winners in the various categories. I hope that the competition will be a motivation for aspiring young writers to enter writing competitions.”