Gothic Postcard Winner is Dead Good

Words by Claudia Conerney

Competition winner Kate Owen

Manchester Metropolitan University is delighted to announce that Kate Owen from Sir John Deane’s College in Cheshire is the winner of the 2012 Postcards from the Dead competition. Entrants were required to write a postcard in no more than 200 words based on the point of view of a fictional character from a gothic novel that they are studying at A-Level. Kate chose to write her entry from the point of view of the house in Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. She told us, “the house might not strictly be a character, but when I read the short story I was inspired by the atmosphere of the house. For me, it was as if Poe had created a malevolent entity that could drive people insane and lead them to their deaths and I wanted to have fun exploring that idea.”

Andy Moore, English lecturer at MMU, certainly enjoyed reading her work, “The standard of entries was extremely high and it was very difficult to choose an overall winner. However, Kate’s entry was incredibly imaginative and very well written. The English department at MMU congratulate her on her achievement.”

In addition to a £25 Amazon voucher, Kate’s work will be professionally illustrated and designed and she will receive 100 copies of her postcard.

Congratulations also to our runners up, whose work was highly commended by our judging panel, Luke Percival from Saints Peter and Paul Catholic College in Widnes, Heather Dowling from Sir John Deane’s College in Cheshire and Victoria Waterhouse from Cronton Sixth Form College in Cheshire. 

‘Postcards from the Dead’ is a subsidiary of our main competition, ‘Postcards from the Past’. For further details about the rules and how to enter, please visit http://www.mcln.org.uk/ or visit the Postcards from the Past blog  here.

Bringing Festive Cheer to Local Competition Winners

Words by Kate Butler

FOR the last few weeks, budding wordsmiths from across Greater Manchester have been plucking inspiration from historical characters and events, for the local-themed competition, Postcards from Christmases Past.

In a spin-off from the on-going competition, Postcards from the Past, a panel of judges from MMU sifted through sacks of entries covering a variety of festive themes, eventually agreeing on six lucky winners, who were announced on Friday.

Winners

John Herbert, 54 from Rochdale, Patricia Brock, 73 from Salford, Joseph Noble, 10 from St. John Fisher R.C Primary School, Christine Penney, 45 from Stockport, Noreen Dermody, 56 from Stretford and William West aged 62 from Chorlton, impressed the judges with their well-written, imaginative and touching messages, which are soon to be featured in their local newspapers.

From school history projects to keen postcard collectors, each individual had their own reasons for entering the competition. Each postcard uniquely encapsulated the Christmas festivities, be it through a moving story passed down through family generations, a celebration of the thriving hat industry in Denton in 1872, or whilst seeking shelter during a terrifying Christmas Eve bombing raid in 1940.

Postcards from the Past

The winners will be automatically entered in the Postcards from the Past competition, a collaboration from the Manchester Children's Book Festival and the Manchester Literature Festival. It is free to enter and open to anyone from age 8 upwards. The competition invites participants to write a postcard from a real or fictional character, which can be from any chosen time in history.  Winners will get to have their postcards designed professionally and will receive 100 copies. The the deadline is 20^thJuly 2013, so start writing!

For more information, please visit: www.mcln.org.uk/postcards_competition.php

Once a country girl, now a city dweller - Kate Butler is an avid adventurer, aspiring food and travel writer, equestrian enthusiast, coffee lover and pudding fiend. Kate currently studies a Masters in Multimedia Journalism at MMU.