Creative scribes challenge on Radio 2000

Radio 2000 will tonight, Wednesday, 23 April 2008, be awarding R50 000 in cash prizes to 10 winners who took part in the Express Yourself competition which ran 11 January - 16 April this year. The Express Yourself competition was aimed at encouraging creative writers to express themselves in writing creatively and in depth about complex issues such as crime, emancipation, hope, dignity and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Winners of the best five poetry pieces, as well as five short story pieces will be announced at MOMO art gallery in Rosebank.

Radio 2000 received up to 1500 submissions through by fax and post. Audio clips submissions which were flighted in all programmes were voted for by listeners.

“Through this competition, we were not looking for a litany of whinges; we were looking for creative work that said: the pen is mightier than the sword. Stories that gets to the heart of the matter, and that expresses the hope of a better tomorrow, says Tebogo Maboya, Radio 2000 acting marketing manager.

“The creative writing campaign is a PBS Radio sanctioned project and was designed with an intention of nurturing, developing and exposing South African talent in poetry and short story writing. We were looking at stimulating the nation and inculcating a nature of encouraging people to look into the depths of their souls and to bare themselves to their truth.”

Participating entries were guided by pre-selected topics in line with thematic topics for 2008 which are Hope, Morals and Human Dignity. This year was the second year of the Express yourself campaign which Radio 2000 participated in to incite people who have the passion to write.