Two talented winners from Torfaen have each won £50 high street vouchers in the first ever national libraries competition – Express Yourself.
Artist Mark Williams won the overall individual prize, while 10 year old Sophie Pollard from Victoria Village was judged the primary schools’ winner, winning £50 for her school. Sophie and the school council will decide how the prize is used.
Llantarnam pupil Betty Turzynski was commended for her piece called Abstract Nouns will receive a £20 book token as reward.
Councillor Richard Clark, executive member for regeneration, said: “We were delighted with the response as we received over 200 entries in total. We had a great time in judging the entries as many made us laugh, some made us sad and some were just bizarre! We were very impressed with the overall quality of entries and I’m sure we will be using many in future campaigns.”
Cllr Clark added: “Many people may not have thought about visiting a library before but we hope this has inspired people to rethink. Can I also say a big thank you to all the library staff who did a great job in promoting the competition.”
Express Yourself encouraged everyone of all ages to show off their creative talents with a generic theme of ‘libraries’. Entrants could choose from a variety of arts including creative writing, dancing, drama, music, animation, painting, photography, drawing or sculpture.
Library Services throughout Wales participated in the competition and more than 1500 entries were received in total.
Gavin & Stacey star Ruth Jones said: “It’s fantastic that so many people have entered – it just goes to show what a creative nation we are! I’m really looking forward to seeing the finalists work and presenting the prizes in February.”
All the local winners will now be entered into the national stages where eighteen finalists will be chosen and invited to a special awards ceremony on 25 February where they will have the chance to win £500.
A national exhibition showcasing the finalists work will go on tour from February next year starting at the Senedd, Cardiff.
The Express Yourself competition forms part of the national marketing campaign for libraries in Wales. It forms a central part of Libraries for Life, the Welsh Assembly Government’s strategy for libraries in Wales.
For more details on the competition please visit www.library.wales.org
