After a three-year hiatus, during which we were unable to hold our competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic or just holding it virtually as was the case last year, the in-person final for our Creative Writing Competition made a triumphant return, with a -fictional- vengeance! As has become our custom for most events, the first round took place virtually, attracting over 40 entries from all corners of the country. From this pool, we carefully selected 24 finalists, with 12 in each category (junior and senior), who were invited to the Santiago College campus in Lo Barnechea for the thrilling final showdown.

Participants from Santiago, Viña del Mar, Curicó, Concepción, and Frutillar arrived bright and early on a Saturday morning. Some were accompanied by proud parents, while others were joined by their teachers, all sharing in the nerves and excitement of the students and young writers. After listening to last year’s Senior Category Winner, Macarena Errecaborde, read her short story “The Ink Girl”, the finalists were ushered into specially prepared workshops, into the capable hands of Melanie Rowe and Jannah Laine, where they tapped into their creative energies, allowing their thoughts to flow freely onto the page.

Prior to the event, the finalists had been asked to contemplate their favorite songs, as these would serve as inspiration for the writing prompt: “Write about the friendship that inspired your favorite song.” Their minds buzzed with ideas, and their fingers raced across the keyboards, all in an effort to convey their voices through the written word on the screens before them.

At the end of this intensive session, they emerged with stories that would be evaluated by our panel of judges, eagerly waiting on the sidelines. One judge among them was Jolanta Polk, a British Embassy official and published author, who also served as our esteemed Guest Speaker for the day.

Alas, not all finalists can be declared winners and after an arduous judging process, we arrived to our top three places for each category.