Asia House Writing Competition
During the summer of 2014, a number of year 9 and year 12 students were introduced to Asian literature; they were exposed to the tropes and stereotypes that such literature is subject to. Students looked at the way in which literature examines values, the principles of wrong and right and how human conduct values can influence groups of people through liberation and suppression. However, pupils also explored the way in which all literature, through its central intention – profit – had become bound by stereotypes and principally subjects reading masses to this.
During the summer, students described the workshop delivered by Asia House as ‘…a breath of fresh air’. Many students worked tirelessly throughout the day to produce a piece of creative writing that looked at the way stereotypes were presented in literature; these pieces formed the School’s competition entries to Asia House’s annual writing competition where hundreds of entries across the country were received.
The judges, including the likes of Romesh Gunashekra and Anna Chen, were so impressed by the quality and compelling nature of the pieces produced by Handsworth Grammar students, five students made the shortlist final. The list of students were: Hassan Mohammed, Hadiqa Sheikh, Ken Ho, Maximillian Henry and Saffran Hossein – a list higher than any other school!
As a result, the students attended the Prize Giving event where Hassan Mahmood won the runner up prize – an excellent result in a national competition! The finalists attended a lively debate about the discussion of stereotypes and subversion of these in literature. Handsworth Grammar students were quick to pick up that subversion of stereotypes has the potential to alienate a group of people through the creation of newer stereotypes!
As a whole, however, students discovered how literature is a compact of ideas wherein culture, belief, religion, and values collide. This can be reflected from the different writers all over the world who share their views, ideas and emotions through different literary pieces.
