Horsham college student wins top Oxford University prize

Collyer’s student Emilia Roy has been awarded the first prize for Year 12 in this year’s Oxford University Spanish Flash Fiction Competition.

Collyer’s head of Spanish Milagros Herguedas said: “Students were invited to submit a short story of 100 words or fewer on a topic of their choosing and written in Spanish.

"Entries were judged on imagination and creativity, as well as linguistic ability.”

Facing major competition, Emilia was judged as the best out of more than 550 entries.

The contest was open to anyone learning French and/or Spanish in Years 7-13 with the winner receiving £100.

Judges say that students’ use of French or Spanish is considered in the context of their age and year group.

The Spanish judging panel commented on all the entries received this year: “It was a pleasure to read such a fantastic range of short stories for this year’s Spanish Flash Fiction competition, and we would like to thank everyone who submitted an entry.

"We were particularly impressed with the level of creativity and storytelling skill on display and choosing just 12 winning entries was really challenging.

“Our winners, runners-up and highly commended entries stood out to us for their innovative angles or perspectives, their interesting reflections, engaging style and, in some cases, for the expertly developed twists in the tale.”

Collyer’s principal Dan Lodge said: “Congratulations to Emilia. She is a credit to Collyer’s, and we are incredibly proud of her success story.”

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