Young Authors Shine at Write-A-Book Awards Ceremony

organised by

 Monaghan Education Support Centre

in partnership with Monaghan County Libraries

The Write-A-Book project was first established by Monaghan Education Support Centre for primary schools in Monaghan and Cavan twenty-five years ago. A special project and Awards night was held this year to celebrate its silver anniversary. Wendy Flood has been co-ordinating this project since 2008 and spearheads this project with great enthusiasm and attention to detail. Great credit also goes to the team in Monaghan Education Support Centre who invest significant time and energy in the administration of the project and the organisation of the celebration evening for the merit award winners and their families.  

Monaghan County Libraries has been involved in the Write-A-Book project for the last two years and Karen Mc Cague, Executive Librarian has played a critical role in introducing the digital Write-A-Book element of the project where children create innovative e-books.

“These children brought their storytelling to life in our increasingly digital world,” said Karen Mc Cague, Executive Librarian with Monaghan County Libraries. “They’ve shown that technology can be a powerful tool for creative expression when combined with imagination and determination. These young authors demonstrated skills in both creative writing and digital design.”

Sincere thanks to the principals and teachers in the fifteen primary schools across Monaghan and Cavan who participated in the Write-A-Book project and the staff in the five schools who participated in the Digital Write-A-book project giving 750 children an opportunity to express their creativity in this literary way. Teachers play an active role at all stages of the project with in-class instruction, assessing the work of other pupils from other schools, and awarding the highly commended prizes (runners up) and the winning Merit Awards. There are many teaching hours employed during the writing process, but the results of this hard work is clear to see, and this can be an inspirational process for many pupils.

Well done to all the children who took part in this project. You deserve great congratulations for your engagement with the Write-A-Book project as you worked to tell your story, express your thoughts using words and images. We hope that you enjoyed creating your book. A special word of congratulations to those who received ‘Highly Commended’ and ‘Merit’ awards for their individual book creations. The rich originality of the book creations and the evidence of imaginative thinking in the award-winning creations was much commented upon this year. These young authors have developed and demonstrated many skills both in creative writing and design and are encouraged to continue writing and reading. Keep on reading as many books as you can, writing, illustrating and expressing yourselves!

The presentation evening for the young authors who received a merit award for their books was held on May 21^st in the Garage Theatre in Monaghan. The theatre was packed with young authors, their parents and teachers who attended by special invitation for this exciting evening. Wendy Flood co-hosted the evening with Teresa McSorley, Director of Monaghan Education Centre, and Karen McCague, Executive Librarian from Monaghan County Library.

This year’s guest speaker was Alan Nolan, author of many children’s books such as: Double Trouble at the Dead Zoo, and the Molly Malone and Bram Stoker series of mystery books. He explained how he became a reader at a young age sharing many humorous stories to the delight of the audience. Before the events began, Alan spent time looking through the books and was delighted with the range of genres on offer. He praised the young authors, from Junior Infants to 6th Class, who had worked hard to produce stories of their own, working hard to hone their writing skills, and illustrating the books to produce a wonderful, finished piece.

Announcing the Merit Winner’s names, Wendy Flood gave a brief synopsis of each winning story in turn before each child was presented with a certificate and a medal to commemorate this special event. Similarly, Karen Mc Cague highlighted the admirable features in the award winning digital creations. Photographs were taken with the award winters from each school representatives along with author and illustrator Alan Nolan. Meanwhile, all the wonderful and varied front cover illustrations were displayed on the back wall for all the see and admire.

Parents were reminded of, and thanked for their huge influence and support, in encouraging their children to work hard and being proud of their efforts and achievements. Thanks also to Rory Geary from the Northern Standard newspaper for taking the photographs and adding to the sense of occasion for the young authors and their families.

Participating schools listed below. 

Left: WAB Schools      

Right: Digital Write A Book Schools