Congratulations to first year student Jasmine King who has recently been awarded first place for the XVIII Literary Competition. The competition is run by the Spanish Institute Vicente Cañada Blanch who are part of a network of international schools operated by the Spanish embassy in London.

Entrants were asked to write a short story of one to four pages in length about any subject of their choice.

Jasmine, who is studying A level Spanish at the College, was awarded with a certificate and book for her winning story titled "El ramo del diablo" (“The Devil’s Bouquet”). The story is about a woman who encounters a strange apparition who leaves her with a plague of madness.

Jasmine said, “In essence, my short story describes how, indiscriminately, life can take a sudden dark turn; the apparition could be a metaphor for our own negative thoughts that can consume us. The initial calmness of the valley is juxtaposed with the tumultuous sequence of events which, I suppose in the context of things today, could imply that we never know what is coming.

It was interesting for me to experiment with different literary techniques that I've picked up from reading Spanish novels over this past year, particularly the use of 'magic-realism' and longer lyrical sentences. Thank you to my wonderful Spanish teacher, Isabel, who has given me the tools to create a successful piece of Spanish writing!"

Isabel Whitehouse, Subject Tutor for Spanish, commented, “I am immensely proud of Jasmine who has, completely on her own, written a most original story with language that very few native speakers would use. Her writing is poetic and precise and she has a great future as a writer.”

Click here to read the English translation.

Click here to read the Spanish version.