Rising Star Writing Competition has been flagged off in Lagos at a press conference by its organisers, The Writers Corner and Vuvuzela Communications Limited, and the sponsors of the project, Greenlife Pharmaceuticals.

The press conference held on Thursday, December 3, to announce the flag-off saw the Project Coordinator, Mrs. Uche Udoji of The Writers Corner, Mr. Ike Ezugwu, the Managing Director, Vuvuzela Communications Limited/Project Director of the Competition, and Pharm. Derrick Osundu, Marketing Manager of Greenlife Pharmaceuticals taking turns to address the press. According to the organisers, winners shall be rewarded with cash prizes, laptops, gifts and certificates at a ceremony slated for April next year.

Mrs. Udoji said the competition is to be held every year to help develop children’s creative thinking and writing skills while rewarding the winning entries with various prizes. She said, the entries for this maiden edition shall either be a poem or a short story exploring the theme “Our Troubled Planet”, with word limit for a short story is put at 500 and 200 for a poem. “Rising Star Competition is open to Nigerian children aged six to seventeen years whether resident in Nigeria or abroad. Non-Nigerian Children resident in Nigeria are also eligible. There are two categories: Junior (6 – 11 years) and Senior (12 – 17 years) with a flat Participation Fee of N2,000 only. Entries close on February 8, 2016,” she added.

Mr. Ezugwu in his own address explained that winning entries shall be published in Rising Star Creative Writing Annual (an Anthology of Children Creative Writing). “We believe that publication of the winning stories and poems will make an interesting book for children and teachers of creative writing. It will also inspire and motivate all children – participants and non-participants alike to keep reading and writing. Through this publication we shall discover more talents and further develop our literature” Mr. Ezugwu added. Pharm. Osondu while praising the initiatives of the organisers of the competition explained that Rising Star Competition is in line with Greenlife Pharmaceuticals’ Corporate Social Responsibility direction and pledged that his company will work with the organisers to ensure continuity of the competition. “It is not going to be a one-off project as we are determined to give it our full support,” Osondu assured.

•Photo shows, L-R; Ike Ezugwu, Mrs. Udoji and Pharm. Osondu.

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