Why we hold writing contest for children – Isang Awah

Bookshelf: This month ‘My Rainbow Books Ltd’ is scheduled to hold an award ceremony for the winners of the 2015 My Rainbow Books National Creative Writing Competition. For how long has this competition been taking place and what inspired it? Isang Awah: We have organized two competitions thus far, but the third edition of the […]

Bookshelf: This month ‘My Rainbow Books Ltd’ is scheduled to hold an award ceremony for the winners of the 2015 My Rainbow Books National Creative Writing Competition. For how long has this competition been taking place and what inspired it?
Isang Awah: We have organized two competitions thus far, but the third edition of the competition will begin within the next month or two. As a company, we believe in giving back, and desire to contribute to the promotion of reading and writing in Nigeria. We were constantly inundated with calls and mails from people who wanted to know if we could publish their stories or their children’s stories. We knew that we could not publish these stories as we do not publish regular storybooks, but their requests got us thinking. So, we decided that we would organize an annual national creative writing competition for children, make the competition free-to-enter so that any child who wants to participate could send in an entry, and we publish the best entries from each competition.

Bookshelf: Many children may not be aware that such a competition is open to them. How do you get the message across?
Awah: Information about the competition is usually disseminated through flyers, posters, newspaper articles, radio adverts, social media, and so on. In addition, the UBEC usually sends letters and posters about the competition to schools all over the country. There is a window period of three to four months for individuals and schools to send in their entries. Not to praise ourselves, but I would say that many people do get to hear about the competition. In the last edition, which happened to be just the second edition, we had entries from 33 out of the 36 states in the country. I expect that in the third edition, we will have entries from all the 36 states of Nigeria.

Bookshelf: How successful has the competition been so far?
Awah: I believe that the competition is certainly helping children to read more and engage more in creative writing. Also, the publication of the best entries in each competition does give exposure to the young, talented writers in Nigeria.

Bookshelf: What major challenges do you encounter or have encountered?
Awah: Funding mainly. Organizing a competition of this magnitude requires a lot of money.

Bookshelf: How do you source for funds?
Awah: First of all, My Rainbow Books always sets aside a percentage of its earnings to put into the competition. We also get a certain amount from E-Gaps, a foundation that is dedicated to bridging the gaps in the education sector. But what we set aside and get from E-Gaps makes only a fraction of our total budget for the competition, so we still have to approach organizations and companies and share our vision with them. Companies such as Seven Up Plc, Healthy Treats for Kids, Reading House Africa, Kidz Funville, All About Kids, Cassava Republic, and so on have helped us in the past.

Bookshelf: Are the children mentored in any way, before or after the competition?
Awah: No, but we hope that a time will come when we can camp all the winners in one place for a day or two before the award ceremony, and have various activities with them. This, of course, depends on the availability of funds.

Bookshelf: For the 2015 contest, you have had notable names in the Nigerian literary scene as judges, such as Helon Habila, Koko Kalango and Tope Folarin. What criteria do you follow when choosing the judges? 
Awah: Excellence. Also, we usually approach writers or literary studies academics from different parts of the country and abroad to serve on the panel of judges each year.

Bookshelf: What is most unique about the present winners and ‘Honourable Mentions’ of the last competition?
Awah: I will have to think harder to come up with the right answer here. Every year, we read entries from incredibly talented children who have great imaginations, so it’s hard to say what really makes the last set of winners stand out from the previous set. However, the unique thing about the last competition is that we got more entries from public schools than we had from private schools. In the maiden edition, most of the entries were from children who attend private schools.

Bookshelf: What is the long term goal of My Rainbow Books? 
Awah: Our vision is pretty big. We hope to have different arms or divisions of the company. In addition to making personalized books and gifts, we hope to publish inspirational books. For the competition, our goal is that it will become continental at some point in the future. We also look forward to a time our prizes and awards will include trips to Harvard, MIT, University of Cambridge, and other great institutions that can inspire our children.