The Rijeka branch office of the Croatian Heritage Foundation staged its 9th annual Goldfish creative writing and journalism contest for children and youth attending Croatian supplementary schools, and pupils living abroad participating in other forms of the organised instruction of Croatian as a mother tongue. The contest is supported by the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sports.
The themes of the creative writing contest were as follows:
For the 6 to 12 year age group:
Snowflakes are falling –or– the craziest game –or– how would I behave as a parent.
For the 13 to 15 year age group:
A letter to a dear person –or– Christmas in my family –or– life without a mobile phone
For the 16 to 18 year age group:
The scents and flavours of Croatia in my home –or– we are a media generation –or– in my Wonderland
The themes of the journalism contest were:
For the 13 to 18 year age group:
My town –or– Croatia in Europe—my vision of the future –or– I have two homelands
428 pupils with fifty-one teacher/mentors from fourteen countries participated in the contest, from: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, France, Italy, Canada, Hungary, Macedonia, Germany, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Serbia, Switzerland and Great Britain. The teacher/mentors interpreted the offered themes with the pupils and selected the works for submission to the contest.
The evaluating commission, which had the complex task of selecting the best from the many excellent submissions, was composed of Karol Visinko DSc, a professor at the Croatistics department of the faculty of the Humanities of the University of Rijeka; Marica Zrilić, a Croatian language teacher at Brajda Elementary School; Linda Grubišić Belina, a senior Croatian language advisor at the Education and Teacher Training Agency.
We wish to thank all of the participants of the contest this year, with a special note of thanks going to the teachers/mentors who invested a great deal of effort to motivate the pupils, introduce them to the given themes and to select and submit their work.
6 to 12 year age group – creative writing
First prize winner:
Kristina Batinić – The Craziest Game, 9 years, Urdorf, Switzerland
Teacher: Božena Alebić
Runners-up:
1. Petra Dupan – Snowflakes Are Falling, 12 years, Traunreut, Germany
Teacher: Karmela Lukanović
2. Tina Pačić – How Would I Behave as a Parent, 9 years, Balingen, Germany
Teacher: Antonija Pavlović
3. Gabriela Vukić – The Craziest Game, 10 years, Ausburg, Germany
Teacher: Suzana Suman
4. David Kosec – The Craziest Game, 10 years, Frankfurt, Germany
Teacher: Jelena Pokos
5. Maximilian Brešić – The Craziest Game, 6 years, Stuttgart, Germany
Teacher: Branka Kordić
13 to 15 year age group – creative writing
First prize winner:
Ana Mihaljević – My Dear Grandmother, 13 years, Mohacs, Hungary
Teacher: Marija Pakatur-Csoka
Runners-up:
1. Lorena Fijačko – Life Without a Mobile Phone, 13 years, Dietikon, Switzerland
Teacher: Diana Foro
2. Valentina Gegić – Life Without a Mobile Phone, 13 years, Visp, Switzerland
Teacher: Tamara Vadlja
3. Marija Marijić – Dear Grandmother, 13 years, Unterhaching, Germany
Teacher: Kristina Krznar
4. Antonija Vujica – Life Without a Mobile Phone, 14 years, Landsberg, Germany
Teacher: Anna Vrca
5. Anja Bejić – Dear Brunhilda, 13 years, Usora, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Teacher: Anto Kovačević
16 to 18 year age group – creative writing
First prize winner:
Jelena Bilaver – The Scents and Flavours of Croatia in my Home, 16 years, Weilstetten, Germany
Teacher: Antonija Pavlović
Runners-up:
1. Lorena Fejzić – The Scents and Flavours of Croatia in my Home, 18 years, Ehingen, Germany
Teacher: Marija Lončar
2. Marko Deanović – We Are a Media Generation, 17 years, Mannheim, Germany
Teacher: Martina Ilić
3.Ante Jelušić – We Are a Media Generation, 16 years, Munich, Germany
Teacher: Marija Lončar
4. Ana Marija Matak – We Are a Media Generation, 18 years, Kumanovo, Macedonia
Teacher: Sandra Nikolova
5. Ana Dujić – In My Wonderland, 16 years, Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia
Teacher: Dario Španović
13 to 18 year age group – journalism
First prize winner:
Ivana Vujeva – My Town, 16 years, Toronto, Canada
Teacher: Ana Bačić
Runners-up:
1. Jan Luka Ponjević – I Have Two Homelands, 14 years, Dachau, Germany
Teacher: Kristina Krznar
2. Grigor Vrhovac – My Town, 13 years, Rottenburg, Germany
Teacher: Monika Račić