Art2Words Writing Prize
Posted on June 6, 2022
The Art2Words writing prize is an annual Friends’ School writing competition open to students in Years 7-12, based upon the Ancient Greek practice of ekphrasis: responding to an art work in words. Students are invited to write either a short story or poem in response to student art work, which has been the winner of The Visual Arts Prize of the previous year and enter either the Secondary or Senior Secondary sections.
2021 Visual Arts Prize winner, Alia Haider’s work, ‘Lost in Translation’ explored the transformation, suppression and loss of South Asian culture by Western dominance; incorporating cultural objects (such as cans and chairs) and patterns, with their interactions mimicking those interaction between the West and East. It acknowledged the complex and antagonised relationship between the West and the East. Samples of Alia’s work is shown below and her Artist’s Statement for all the pieces in her exhibition can be found here.
Entries are judged by a member of the editorial team of Tasmania’s Forty South magazine, which focuses on Tasmania, its people, places, artists, photographers and writers. The work of all short-listed entrants, including prize winners, will be published in the ‘Young Tasmania’ section of Forty South’s online magazine, allowing them to gain local, national and international exposure. Prize winners’ work is also published here, and additionally, student winners receive a generous gift voucher from The Hobart Bookshop.
This year’s winning entries powerfully explore ideas of identity, home, loss and legacy and issues related to displacement, migration and the way in which we live in relation to the Earth. The 2022 Art2Words Short List + Winners are:
Secondary Poetry
Winner: ‘Knowledge of the Trees’ by Isla Younger (Year 9)
‘The Chair at the Head of the Table’ by Isabel Adams (Year 9)
‘Young’ by Clementine Chatto (Year 7)
Secondary Short Story
Winner: ‘The Darkness Creeping’ by Isabel Adams (Year 9)
‘Can’ by Charlie Melrose (Year 9)
‘Venture to Earth’ by Amelia Cooper (Year 8)
Senior Secondary Poetry
Winner: ‘Grey Clouds Loom Above’ by Sahansa Udawatta (Year 10)
‘How do I know who I am?’ by Gipsy Rugen (Year 11)
‘Quod Video’ by Jack Hughes (Year 10)
Senior Secondary Short Story
Winner: ‘Ten Pound Poms’ by Harriet Carter (Year 10)
‘Cretan Memories’ by Jack Hughes (Year 10)
‘Smuggler of Tsundoku’ by Zoe Gangell (Year 12)
We congratulate the students and look forward to seeing more of their work in the future.
