A fantastic Cirencester College English Language and Literature student, Katelyn Amor, has recently won a prize in the short story competition at the Broadway Arts Festival. Katelyn also studies A-Levels in German and History, and is an avid member of the creative writing enrichment.
The Broadway Arts Festival began in 2010, and aims to celebrate Cotswold villages’ artistic heritage. The festival introduced the competition in 2020 to encourage creativity during lockdown. The prize is sponsored by festival benefactors Julia & Martin Wilson, who also judged the competition. Over 140 entries were made, and Katelyn was one of three winners which is an incredible achievement.
Katelyn said “I have always enjoyed writing and telling stories, I see creative writing as a way to express myself, I like that you can literally write about anything you like”
Katelyn’s story “Forget Me Not” is based on a WW1 soldier, and has personal links to her family. When the centenary of WW1 ending came in 2018 Katelyn did some research into her relatives who had fallen in the war, and was shocked to discover quite how many had fought. Her feelings towards them are expressed in her story.
On finding out the brilliant news that she had won, Katelyn said
“I was completely shocked, I didn’t expect to win. It sounds silly but I never actually thought about winning when I entered. It has set the bar quite high If I ever enter again… maybe in a few years!”
Katelyn was encouraged to enter the competition by her English lecturer Sara Jennings, and John Pitt, who takes the Creative Writing enrichment sessions.
John Pitt said “Katelyn winning the Broadway Arts Festival competition was fully deserved. Her story based on WW1 was tender, beautifully structured and genuinely moving. She is a great writer – and a fine supporter of others’ writing too. She always comments warmly in praise of other students’ work.”
When Katelyn leaves college, she is looking at applying to university and wants to continue pursuing creative writing, and potentially become an author one day.
To find out more about Cirencester College courses take a look at our website www.cirencester.ac.uk.
