Young writers’ ‘First Flight’

'First Flight,' a collection of short stories and poems written by members of the Young Learners Centre of the British Council, Colombo, in association with the Standard Chartered Bank, was launched on Saturday February 17, 2007 at the newly re-done garden of the British Council, Colombo.

3000 members of the Young Learners Centre in Colombo were invited by the British Council, in 2005 to take part in a writing competition, to identify children who had the knack for creative writing. Out of this, 100 children were selected.

Workshops were held on a regular basis during the course of the year, which resulted in these children being able to improve on their writing skills. They were also given the opportunity to meet the writer Romesh Gunasekera and performance poet Zena Edwards.

The book ‘First Flight’ is a compilation of the best stories which were submitted by the children, between the ages of 11 and 14 years. The selection panel comprised Ameena Hussein, Ashok Ferrey, Vivimarie VanderPoorten and Dr. Dushyanthi Mendis. The kids were assisted by Lal Medawattegedara, leader of the Young Writers Club 2006.

The very chirpy, Sheshadri Kottearachchi, Menakshi Uduwela and Malindie Sugathapala (all 14 years), explained the process, and said they "could write on anything." Kaushika Jayalath (14) added that they were, "not restricted on what to write."

Archana Heenpella (11) the youngest in the club, was also responsible for drawing the picture for the cover of the book. It is interesting to note that young Archana drew this picture on the computer! In response to what the writing experience was like she said, "It was really fun," adding, "I learnt new skills about writing."

Mr. Medawattegedara states in the book, "in order to capture a writer's original thought we have generally refrained from correcting the English of the works published…" Why? Well, it was felt that children need not be exposed to extensive editing too early, as it could affect their, "budding talent."

Mr. Medawattegedara said, "the entire vision of first flight is captured in the title First Flight..." adding, "We are similar to the Wright brothers who tried to solve the problem of flying with their first flight. With our first flight we solved the problem of fiction. The kids learned how to transform reality in order to capture an essence. So as writers they have a long way to go. This book is just a very encouraging first step."