Crossing The Line : Creative Writing Competition 2011 – Tower Hamlets Schools Library Services

Crossing the line was the first of the Creative Writing Competitions to be run by the Schools Library Services. The winners were chosen by author Pete Johnson.

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Key Stage Three Short Story Winners

1^st	HAZERA KHATUN	Sir John Cass School	Strikingly original, absolutely unforgettable piece which takes us inside the head of a person who ‘crosses all limits’ – the bully. Deeply felt story which says so much.
2^nd	NASRIN AHMED	Central Foundation Girls School	This gripping tale is written with great power and insight. Beautifully controlled yet full of emotion.
3^rd	RUBEKA ZAFAR	Morpeth School	A story about war yet written with such quiet power and fascinating detail. It builds to a most eloquent ending.
Commended	SAHRA BOTAM	Langdon Park	A dramatic and gripping piece. A writer of great talent.
Commended	SALMAN RAHMAN	Stepney Green College	An intense, highly original piece, written with great power and skill.
Highly commended	MINHAJ CHOWDHURY	Bow School for Boys	A compelling narrative which also features a most likeable character.
Highly commended	BILAL HAMMANI	Bethnal Green Technology College	The dialogue here is vivid and completely natural. A writer of great promise.

Key Stage Three Poetry Winners

1^st	NADIA RAHMAN	Morpeth School	Ambitious, challenging and highly original. Full of raw power. A superb achievement. Full of ideas and emotion.
2^nd	ZAHRA NABIL	Bishop Challoner School	Deeply felt, the ending is almost unbearable. Absolutely gripping and unforgettable.
3^rd	JOSHUA STREETE CAMPBELL	Raines Foundation School	Eloquent, absorbing, this poem is strikingly individual. At the end you already feel you know the writer. Last lines are devastating.
Highly commended	SYEDA KHATUN	Langdon Park	One of the most positive and inspiring of all the poems. This writer has great potential.
Highly commended	MINHAJ RAHMAN	Stepney Green School	Shows great promise. Full of vivid phrases and images.
Highly commended	SHAKILA TASNIM	Mulberry School	Written in a gripping, conversational style. Extremely powerful ending.
Commended	AKASHI ALAM	Morpeth School	I really like this. The writing is so natural and unforced. A detailed plot, but the writing style carries the reader along.

Key Stage Four Short Story Winners

1^st	ZAHRA DEERA	Central Foundation Girls’ School	I loved this: sad yet wise and life-affirming too. Highly unusual and quite unforgettable.
2^nd	TASNIM SHORMEE AZIZ (Shormee)	Bishop Challoner Collegiate College	A superb achievement. It brings alive a character and a situation with wonderful depth and vividness. I was thoroughly engrossed throughout.
3^rd	TAMARA BARRETT	Bishop Challoner Collegiate College	A fascinating opening, grips the reader at once. This story never relaxes its hold and the ending is incredibly powerful.
Highly commended	RIMA RASHID	Sir john Cass School	Opening with a series of short sentences, sets the scene with economy and skill. The feelings of the main character are especially described
Highly commended	OLIWIA LEWANDOWSKA	Raines Foundation School	Written with the power and precision of a poem. This writer shows huge promise.

Key Stage Four Poetry Winners

1^st	CHERRY WHIPP	Central Foundation Girls’ School	This is brilliant: stylish, funny, shocking and full of emotion. A highly original voice.
2^nd	JACKIE ANYURU	Bishop Challoner Girls’	This makes its points in a direct, really affecting way. Last line is so poignant.
3^rd	RHIANNON HUTCHINGS	Sir John Cass	Very effective, compelling look at how the tiniest things can derail a relationship. Last verse shows vividly how devastating break-ups can be
Highly commended	ALFRED GREEN	Raines Foundation School	Highly individual, striking, exciting poem. This writer has much to say.

Best in School Winners

Langdon Park School	SAHRA BOTAM	Langdon Park School	A dramatic and gripping piece. A writer of great talent.
Morpeth School	NADIA RAHMAN	Morpeth School	A superb piece of writing – ambitious and powerful.
Mulberry School	SHAKILA TASNIM	Mulberry School	Extremely powerful yet written with disarming naturalness.
Raines Foundation School	JOSHUA STREETE CAMPBELL	Raines Foundation School	Eloquent, absorbing and devastating poem.
Sir John Cass	HAZERA KHATUN	Sir John Cass	An unforgettable piece – deeply felt and highly original.
Stepney Green School	MINHAJ RAHMAN	Stepney Green School	Vivid and powerful. A writer of huge promise.

Prize-giving press release

With equally high ambitions, the winners of Crossing the Line, the 2011 Creative Writing Competition, were treated to spectacular views of the city from the 30^th floor of the Clifford Chance offices in Canary Wharf. Presenting their prizes along with words of advice and encouragement was celebrated author Pete Johnson who told the winners and their guests that the writing of Tower Hamlets students was the best in the country.

Tower Hamlets Schools Library Service now organise this competition which has become an annual celebration of the best young writers in the Borough. This year first prizes in poetry and short story categories went to Zahra Deera and Cherry Whipp from Central Foundation Girls Secondary School, Nadia Rahman from Morpeth School, and Hazera Khatun from Sir John Cass’s Foundation and Redcoat Secondary School. Pupils from Bethnal Green Technology College, Bow School of Maths and Computing, Bishop Challoner Catholic Collegiate Girls School, Langdon Park School, Mulberry Girls School, Raine’s Foundation School and Stepney Green Maths and Computing College also won prizes for their work.

“The event was inspiring and the standard of writing was truly amazing,” said Gillian Harris, Head of Tower Hamlets Schools Library Service