See photos from the week away.
 

Moniack Mhor is the writers’ centre near Inverness where we spend Pushkin Prizewinners’ Week. We head up the A9 from Edinburgh immediately after the Prizegiving.

This year was, as ever, a busy week, full of writing, chatting, cooking, eating, laughing, walking, reading and a little bit of sleep from time to time.

Here is how one of our prizewinners, Sarah Hutchison of Dalkeith High School, described her week at Moniack Mhor.

On the second of May, my family and I attended the Pushkin Prize-giving at Archer’s Hall, in Edinburgh. After a short speech from Lady Butter, the Chairman of the Prizes, extracts from the Prizewinners were read out, and the judges explained each Prizewinners’ strengths in creative writing. I was blown away by how enormously talented the other Prizewinners were; and overwhelmed that the judges had thought I was good enough to be a part of this prestigious competition.

After the Prize-giving, I bid farewell to my family and had lunch with the other Prizewinners. It didn’t take long for me to realize how much I had in common with the other winners, and how easy it was to talk to them. Once we’d had lunch, we were ushered downstairs to fetch our luggage before getting onto the bus, trying not to think about the gruelling four hour journey ahead. After boarding the coach, we were handed out our itineraries and notebooks. We were invited to start writing right away, while we took in the breath-taking scenery of the Highlands.

On arrival, we were introduced to the owner of the Moniack Mhor Writing Centre, and had our first sit-down meal together. Afterwards, we met our tutors - Diana Hendry and Gerry Cambridge - who led us in a group writing activity called “All About You”. It was a great way of introducing one another to the rest of the group, explaining more about our personal lives, as well as what had inspired us to start writing in the first place.

The next day, we were up bright and early for our first workshop with Gerry. We learnt that it is a poet’s job to show the reader something from a different perspective. In this “Ways of Seeing” lesson, we heard a number of poems and also looked at them on the page. This way, we learnt how the structure of a poem can really change the dynamics of a piece of writing. Later on that morning, we had another workshop, led by Diana. Here, we learnt about a character’s point of view. This was one of my favourite workshops, as we wrote about why the chicken really had crossed the road, and what its intentions were on the other side. It was great hearing everyone else’s interpretations of the classic joke, and I was surprised of how confident I felt reading my work out to my peers. That night, we all came together in the lounge to share our favourite stories and books - reading extracts and discussing what they meant to us personally. I read out “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, and explained that I enjoyed poetry that made me think, and thought that this particular piece did just that.

On Wednesday morning, we went on an outing to Urquhart Castle. The sun was shining, and Loch Ness looked spectacular. On the bus journey over, we were given two assignments for us to complete during our visit. After touring the incredible castle and taking a lot of pictures, my friend and I settled down and worked together to produce our pieces. It was great sharing my work with someone my own age; and because of her suggestions, my writing really improved. We returned from our trip in time to meet Barry Hutchison, the author of ‘Invisible Fiends: Mr Mumbles’. He told us how he became a published author. It was really insightful: I’ve always wanted to be an author, but have never known exactly how it worked. He answered all of our questions and gave us all a signed copy of his book at the end!

The next day, we had two more workshops with our tutors. The first, with Diana, was a lesson on how to incorporate action and description into our creative writing. The second, led by Gerry, concentrated on poetry, and how changing your style can make the poem turn into a conversation with the reader. In the afternoon, we split into groups and worked on our pieces to be performed at the Ceilidh that night. My friend and I chose a poem about friendship, which seemed fitting after all the friends we’d made during the week. The Ceilidh was really incredible - there was singing, instruments, and sketches, and everyone had a great time.

I couldn’t quite believe it when I woke up on Friday morning and realized I’d be home by the end of the day! We squeezed in one last workshop where we all came forward and read a piece we’d written during the week. We also took the time to thank our tutors and the organizers of the week, and shared our highlights. Then, after one last group photo and the exchange of e-mail addresses, we headed for home.

I have learnt a lot from my week away at Moniack Mhor. I’ve learned to be confident in my writing. A week before, I wouldn’t have been able to read my work to anyone - let alone a room of kids the same age as me. Being a Pushkin Prizewinner has encouraged me to believe in my work, and showed me that I’m not the only teenager who enjoys writing. I know that I am extremely lucky to have had this experience, and am so grateful that I was given this opportunity.