_ Soltalk February 2023 _ Soltalk 24 / 01 / 2023 16:52 Page 38
Local News
Specsavers Ópticas short story competition
Two aspiring authors have been crowned winners of the Specsavers Ópticas short story competition .
Eight-year-old David Adsuar Vélez from the Alicante province and 14-year-old Inés Peiró López from the Malaga province impressed the judges with their creative and imaginative stories and have now been awarded a prize and a gift for their respective schools .
Children up to 14-years-old were invited to submit their short stories for the Specsavers Ópticas short story competition
They were particularly impressed with the two winning entries , which were both unanimously chosen by the judges . They said , “ The winner of the Junior Category was David Adsuar Vélez , entitled " The Crystal Ball ". It stands out for being a story with an attention-grabbing beginning , written with simplicity , with elements of action and a variety of characters .
The winner in the Senior Category was the story by Inés Peiró López entitled " Future ". It is a very technically well-constructed story , with short phrasing , precise use of words and a very balanced and striking mixture of realism and fantasy ."
Winner David Adsuar Vélez with Michael Olsson of Specsavers Ópticas Guardamar
Winner Inés Peiró López with representatives of Specsavers Ópticas Fuengirola with between the 3rd of October and the 16th of December . The stories were to be inspired by the image below . The entries were reviewed by a panel made up of authors and poets Ignacio Díaz Galán and Juan Emilio Ríos . They judged both the junior and senior category entries based on them being well written , maintaining suspense , creativity and imagination , clarity of ideas , characterization and dialogue .
The judges were very impressed by the level of the entries , and commented , “ The overall standard of the entries was very good . Most of the stories incorporated the crystal ball from the image and used the theme of fortune telling as the backbone of their narrative . We were pleased to see short sentences and a natural rhythm , as well as combining realism and fantasy in an effective way .
As judges we ’ d like to celebrate each of the stories which were written , as the act of creation is a prize in itself ! Being able to express yourself and start experimenting how to make art with language is a wonderful achievement . Congratulations to all of you – keep on writing !”
The winners have visited their nearest Specsavers Ópticas stores , in Fuengirola and Guardamar to collect their prize of € 50 in Amazon vouchers and are delighted to have been chosen as the winning entries . Their schools will also be receiving a donation of 200 € each to purchase books for their libraries .
Inés Peiró López goes to Sagrada Familia El Monte FESD , in Málaga and David Adsuar Vélez attends the CEIP Reyes Católicos school in Guardamar .
David Bradshaw from Specsavers Ópticas Fuengirola commented , “ Huge congratulations to our worthy winners and many thanks to everyone who submitted their entries . We ’ re delighted to be rewarding creativity and encouraging children to write stories and hope that the schools will be able to further promote reading and literacy thanks to the donation .”
Find out more about Specsavers Ópticas by visiting www . specsavers . es
38