The City of Edinburgh Council has launched the fourth Green Pencil Award, a creative writing competition with an environmental theme open to all P4-7 aged pupils in Edinburgh.
The competition, which runs from 31 August until 14 October has a theme of ‘Forests and trees’ reflecting that 2011 has been declared International Year of Forests by the United Nations.
The aim is to encourage entries looking at the importance of trees and woodlands to our local environment. Entrants are asked to think about what trees and forests provide us with. They can write in prose or poetry,about a tree at the bottom of their garden, some woodland in a nearby park or rainforests they have seen or read about.
Participation is invited through local libraries, schools and the Council website www.edinburgh.gov.uk/greenpencilaward where more can information is available.
Over 1,000 entries were received in 2010 with last year’s overall winner, Owen Richards from St Mary’s RC Primary School, winning the prestigious Green Pencil Award Trophy for his entry ‘The City is Wild’.
In addition to the trophy there are various prizes for the winner and their class mates / friends at the awards evening on Friday 25 November 2011 at the Central Reference Library on George IV Bridge.
The main supporters for 2011 are: The Scottish Book Trust, The Scottish Poetry Library, UNESCO City of Literature, The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, Countryside Ranger Service and Forestry Commission Scotland.
Helping launch the 2011 competition, Ron Butlin, Edinburgh Makar (Poet Laureate) said: ‘Youth and creativity are a quite unbeatable combination. Green Pencil is a really marvellous project, and an important one – for the future of us all.’
Councillor Deidre Brock, Culture and Leisure Convener for The City of Edinburgh Council said: ‘The competition presents a wonderful opportunity for our young people to demonstrate their creative writing skills and to show how much they know and care about protecting their environment. I look forward to seeing another excellent range of entries from children throughout the city.’
