Dear readers, Victor Oladejo, Michael Ogbonnaya and Peace Habila are our winners for #Week40 of the cmonionline essay competition.
Silent Sisters: Victor has distinguished himself as a consistent creative writer. We can only imagine where this young man will be in say 10 years time. As usual, his uncanny imaginative ability is top-notch. His narration in this essay brings back memories of secondary school literature like “The Gods Are Not To Blame by Ola Rotimi. Though restricted mostly to just dialogue, Victor still managed to treat the reader to a spellbinding storyline and adequate suspense. Congrats Victor.
Trapped:
Peace wrote to the instructions with three characters involved in a dialogue that ended tragically. The grammar, structure and syntax ticked the boxes. However, the story could have been more thrilling with suspense and twists. It would have helped if the writer had developed the ending better. Mr Adeh just reappeared out of the blues with a knife and seemingly murdered the counsellor. Still, sticking to the instructions can and will always get you across the finish line. Well done Peace.
Crossdressing In Nigeria: Should We Be Worried?: Michael owns this. He has consistently shown superior skills and originality in this category. This was a well researched expository that introduced the topic properly by defining the relevant concepts. He then took the reader down memory lane to the early days of Charles Oputa a.k.a Charly Boy before delving into a detailed analysis of the topic, followed by some robust arguments. The writer then concludes with a stern suggestion. As usual, the bibliography is impeccable. This is one of the very best from Michael. Congrats!
Feedback:
Chukwuemeka Oluka also put in a good essay on crossdressing and did well to explore the business angle. Abdulrasaq Ariwoola please check your email.
NB: It is disappointing that besides Chisom Arueze the rest of the creative essay writers failed to follow the instructions. Like I said in the publication of #Week39 winners, the creative part of our competition is getting more technical. Writers who want to excel must learn to follow simple instructions.
I recommended a book which Victor graciously downloaded the PDF and sent to me for any writer who may wish to read. I have announced it twice with no response. I have also asked for improved sharing and engagement to no avail. It would seem that writers are just content with sending in entries just to compete for the prize.
To this end, we will take another break to refresh and restrategize for the yuletide and to afford the publisher some time to settle into a new academic programme. An email will be sent to writers in the coming week. In the meantime, you are welcome to submit your written works for publication but remember to meet our editorial standards.
Thanks to our judges, writers and everybody else who has been with us. Follow and engage us on social media via Twitter and Facebook as we navigate this literary journey. December 2021 promises to be exciting!
