By Chifundo Zingunde

Kaseye Girls Secondary School’s form three student, Twambilire Ng’ambi was the heroine of the day as she grabbed the top notch position in a Malawi Writers Union (MAWU) Northern Chapter’s debut English Short Story writing competition.

And to add more spice to the event, two other top positions also went to female students in a gala that was staged at Mzuzu University’s Auditorium on Friday, the 19^th of January 2018.

The Competition, which was up for challenge to secondary school students in the region saw Twambilire reigning supreme against 10 other competitors.

Speaking in an interview with EM, Twambilire expressed her gratitude, saying the award was a bigger step into her writing career.

“This is a very big step, I have always been writing since I was young; now, winning this has inspired me. I’m going to write even more and more to win more prices,” she promised.

Gracing the occasion was Mzuzu city’s Deputy Mayor, Alexander Mwakikunga who applauded MAWU for unearthing raw literary talents in the region.  

“This has been an eye opener. I encourage the youths to write even more, instead of being involved in immoral activities they will be busy thinking of what to write hence sharpening their thinking capacity  that would  even lead to writing as business,”.remarked Mwakikunga.

In his remarks, General Secretary of MAWU northern Chapter Mashallo Samilo said he was honored to have staged such a successful competition and felt satisfied with the overall performance.

“We have received entries from all districts here in the north though they were few but it was impressive as we are on a mission of promoting the reading culture. And other students who neglected, thinking it was a joke will be encouraged to write and participate in the future competitions which we plan to undertake”. Said Mashallo.

The Competition which was sponsored by Malawi Revenue Authority saw the winner, Twambilire walking home with K40, 000.00, seconded by Mzuzu government secondary school’s form three student, Chisomo Matchere who smiled home with K20, 000.00 while the third one, Mzuzu Academy’s year 9 Student, Tamika Chavinda got K15, 000.00.

The function was spiced by Northern region poets like Kagwa Dzonzi, Padiwa Kasho and a story teller Richard Chimunthu with some marvelous performances by Misheck Mzumara.