The Dean at the School of Journalism of the University of The Gambia and prolific writer, Nana Grey-Johnson, has said that writing has placed The Gambia on the world map.
He made the remarks as the guest speaker in a ceremony organised by Apple Tree International School on Friday held to honour their student writers with awards and cash prizes, at the school auditorium in Manjai.
"What we do by writing has placed The Gambia on the world map by expressing ourselves," Mr Grey-Johnson noted.
He expressed delight, saying a competition of this nature would grow the young generation to begin to write.
Mr Grey-Johnson encouraged the students to be more engulfed in reading to become good writers, saying that it would also help the world to understand the cultural view from The Gambia
For her part, Mrs Nancy Paul, literature teacher at Apple Tree, said they organised the annual essay competition for their students to be able to express themselves through the art of writing.
"The purpose of writing is to help the writer express his or her thoughts,” she said.
She said they give them topics to choose from which to write and out of the eleven who summated this year, three won prizes and several others won consolation prizes.
Moses Ugberaise, the head teacher of the high school at Apple Tree, said the aim of the annual essay competition was to encourage students to develop creative writing skills.
Three students from the junior level and one from the high school were awarded with cash prizes and while seven others received consolation prizes.
The first prize of D5, 000 was won by Adedamola O. Oke and second prize of D1,500 was won by Pleasant Hope Ugwuoke while the third prize of D500 was won by Adebola O. Oke.
For their part, Adedamola O. Oke and Adebola O. Oke, first and third prize winners respectively, expressed delight for the awards, saying they were inspired by "Magic-Calabash."
One of the awardees, Adebola O. Oke, also won the United Nations Essay writing competition for Upper Basic Category countrywide.
This is the second edition of the essay writing competition organised by the Apple Tree International to enhance the creative and literary minds of their students.
Author: Mahamadou Camara